Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

A Georgia federal judge recently ruled that the former owner of a metal fabrication machine did not breach any duty to maintain the equipment or any duty to warn the plaintiff of any danger associated with the machine and granted it summary judgment.

Neville Smith filed the products liability case in the DeKalb County Superior Court in March 2006 after being involved in a workplace accident in June 2004 while working as an operator of a Fabripunch machine manufactured by Peddinghause Corporation.

Smith claims that he was using his left hand to straighten a die when the stripper clamp unexpectedly came down and trapped his thumb. The accident resulted in amputation of his thumb. It was later determined that the stripper clamp malfunctioned because of an electrical short with one of the relays going to the stripper clamp.

In his complaint, Smith alleges strict liability and negligence for defective design against Peddinghaus; failure to warn against Peddinghaus, C&I Steel, and Steel; improper installation and/or modification against Steel; negligent maintenance against Steel and C&I Steel; and punitive damages against all of the defendants, who removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on April 25, 2006.

C&I Steel moved for summary judgment on April 12, 2007, arguing that it had no duty to Smith, it did not breach any duty to him and, even if it breached a duty to plaintiff, this breach was not the proximate cause of Smith’s injuries. The company also contended that because it has no liability to Smith, he cannot recover punitive damages.

Judge G. Ernest Tidwell determined that Smith failed to establish that C&I Steel breached any duty to maintain the equipment or any duty to warn him of any danger posed by the Fabripunch machine and granted the motion for summary judgment.