Farmworker Wins $1 Million Settlement In Injury Case – Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Paul S. Padda
Filed under Employment Law
A California farmworker, Robert Ramirez Lopez, was on the job only three days in September 2009 when a tragic accident caused his left arm to be crushed and become mangled by a machine that processes watermelons. Mr. Lopez was tapping a watermelon with his hand in order to send it through the processing machine when his arm was crushed by a dumping mechanism in the machine.
As a result of his injuries, Mr. Lopez will never be able to work a manual labor job again. He now has limited use of his arm even though much of it was repaired during surgery. The case was settled only two weeks before the start of trial. Ironically, Mr. Lopez was only able to achieve such a high settlement because the machine that injured him was manufactured by a separate company that was not his employer. If Mr. Lopez had been employed by the company that owned the machine, then any compensation he received would have been limited to a worker’s compensation claim. Under worker’s compensation, his recovery would have been around $135,000.
If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by heavy machinery, it is extremely important you discuss your legal options with an experienced products liability attorney. Products liability cases require hiring the right expert and can entail a significant investment in both time and money. The right lawyer, however, can get you the right result. At Paul Padda Law, PLLC we know what it takes to win. Don’t get mad, get legal!