A former worker who partially severed his hand while attempting to put an ill-fitting blade on a piece of restaurant equipment is suing the restaurant for which he was doing work and the company that manufactured the replacement blades.
Philadelphia attorney Leonard K. Hill, of the firm Hill & Associates, filed the personal injury civil complaint June 8 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Esman Mendoza-Valladares.
Named as defendants in the suit are Norristown, Pa.-based Remo Restaurant Equipment, LLC, and Plaza Azteca Plymouth Meeting, Inc., located in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
According to the lawsuit, Plaza Azteca purchased a grill-cleaning tool for its business from Remo sometime early this year. Following that purchase, the restaurant bought from Remo replacement blades for the cleaning tool, blades that the complaint maintains Remo knew did not fit the tool properly, and could cause serious bodily injury.
On Feb. 24, the plaintiff was installing a replacement blade on the grill-cleaning tool when the blade separated from the tool and partially severed the plaintiff’s left hand, a mishap that required surgery and resulted in the plaintiff permanently losing the function of his hand, the lawsuit claims.
The incident caused Mendoza-Valladares to sustain injuries such as a deep cut in his left hand that required surgical repair, which caused him, and will continue to cause him a “great deal of embarrassment, humiliation, pain, suffering, agony and inconvenience,” the lawsuit claims.
The complaint states that the incident has caused the plaintiff to expend various sums of money on medical attention, and has caused him to experience a loss in earnings and has preventing him from carrying out his daily duties and activities.
The lawsuit accuses both defendants of negligence for knowingly allowing a dangerous condition to exist for employees and contractors.
The plaintiff demands judgment in his favor against the defendants in a sum in excess of $50,000.
A jury trial has been demanded. The case awaits listing.
The case number is 110600427.