Personal Injury Attorneys / Automobile Accident Lawyer El Paso, Lubbock, San Angelo, Odessa, New Mexico NM TX New Mexico Texas

OUR RESULTS

Grain Elevator Accident
Death Case
$455,000 Net to Client

Our client’s husband was an employee at a grain elevator and was trying to shovel grain towards an auger. The whirlpool of grain caught him and pulled him into the augur to his death. Our investigation revealed that the grain elevator operator did not have bin entry procedures in place that were mandated by OSHA. Further, the operator did not provide its employees with body harnesses connected to a life line that were also required by OSHA regulations in order to prevent employees from being engulfed by the grain.

The Superintendant of the grain elevator testified that, although the OSHA regulations were in a binder on top of a filing cabinet in his office, he never once bothered to read the regulations. He further testified that he had 25 years experience working at grain elevators. The testimony was that, even though he was the Manager and Superintendant of the grain elevator, his superiors had never required him to become familiar with the OSHA regulations that specifically applied to grain elevators.

Even though the defendant had worker’s compensation, Texas law allows a family of a person killed at work to bring a claim against the employer for gross negligence and punitive damages only. This was a settlement of such a punitive damages claim.