Dominguez v. Oosten et. al.
- Resolution Date:
- September 15, 2009
- Practice Areas:
- Construction Injuries, Industrial Accidents, Truck Accidents
- Synopsis:
- For about a decade, Candido Dominguez was a laborer for Paradiso Mechanical, a company which installs underground gasoline tanks. On September 13th, 2006, Mr. Dominguez and the Paradiso crew were working to replace an old tank, when Gerald Oosten, a driver for The Mason and Dixon Lines, delivered the new tank.
The 5,000 pound tank was secured to the flatbed trailer by a combination of straps and “chocks” (pairs of wooden blocks). Normally, the straps would be removed only after the tank was connected to the excavators, but on this load Mr. Dominguez climbed a ladder to examine the top of the tank, when Mr. Oosten prematurely removed the straps. The massive tank rolled from the truck, crushing Mr. Dominguez beneath it. Mr. Dominguez suffered a crushed pelvis requiring hardware installation, fractured vertebrae from L1 through L5, significant nerve damage, and a blood clot requiring surgical insertion of a vena cava filter.
Plaintiff sued Mr. Oosten and The Mason and Dixon Lines for negligence. Under a negligent undertaking theory, plaintiff sued Xerxes Corporation, the tank manufacturer, claiming that Xerces failed to follow its own procedures and negligently installed the chocks. Plaintiff also sued Shields, Harper & Co. (the distributor of the tank itself), Admiral-Merchants Motor Freight, Inc. (the motor carrier hired by Xerxes to transport the tank), and Universal Am-Can, Ltd., claiming that each company had a nondelegable duty to safety transport the tank. Admiral-Merchants, in violation of its contract with Xerxes, secretly brokered the tank to motor carrier Universal Am-Can—which in turn violated its own contract by brokering the tank to its sister company, Mason Dixon. Admiral Merchants and Universal Am-Can argued that they were merely acting as brokers, and therefore had no such duty.
Defendants did not contest that Mr. Dominguez was incapable of returning to work in any capacity. Instead, they asserted: 1) that a significant proportion of fault could be attributed to Paradiso Mechanical and to Mr. Dominguez himself; 2) that Mr. Dominguez climbed the ladder earlier than Paradiso’s usual procedures dictated; and 3) that he should have confirmed that the tank was secure before ascending. - Attorneys:
-
Kevin Lancaster
William L. Veen
Corey N. Friedman - Resolution:
- $1.12 Million, plus waiver of $700,542 lien