PITTSBURGH – A Beaver County couple are suing a Virginia-based fire protection products company, after a metal pipe it produced allegedly fell and struck the husband-plaintiff on the head when he was at work.
Michael Peters and Nichole Peters filed suit in the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas earlier this year versus Ferguson Fire & Fabrication, Inc. and Ferguson Enterprises, LLC, both of Newport News, Va. The defendants removed the case to federal court on May 29.
On March 26, 2019, the suit says Peters was working as a union sprinkler fitter for VFP Fire Systems in Lock Haven, where he was helping to build a structure that would eventually house a First Quality tissue and/or paper-producing machine/plant.
VFP was tasked with installing a fire suppression system that was to include a sprinkler system placed into the building being constructed, while the defendants supplied the pipes to be used in the fire suppression system. They were provided in the form of lengths of pipe, which were bound together by metal bands.
“On March 26, 2019, the construction and/or installation of the sprinkler system required plaintiff, his co-employees and other on site to lift bundles of pipe from the ground floor to the second floor of the First Quality building. Due to the weight of the pipe bundles, it was necessary to use a crane to lift the pipes from the ground level to the higher levels at which the pipes would be installed,” the suit states.
“In order to lift the pipe bundle from the ground floor to a higher level, it would be necessary to first attach the pipe bundle to the crane boom via straps or other connecting devices, and then lift the pipe bundle with the crane to the desired height, while the individual holding the tag-line steered or guided the pipe bundle as necessary.”
Michael Peters was the individual chosen to operate the tag-line while bundles of pipe were lifted from the ground floor to the upper level of the building at the First Quality project. At that time, a bundle of what was believed to be approximately 10 feet in length pipes was being raised by a crane, from the ground floor to the second floor of the building, the suit says.
At that time, a two-and-a-half foot-long length of pipe slipped, came loose from or was dislodged from the middle of the bundle of pipes, falling toward the ground. It traveled through the air and struck Michael Peters in the head, the suit says.
Subsequently, he allegedly sustained a myriad of injuries, including a 5.0 laceration to the left side of the forehead, left frontal soft tissue hematoma, extraconal hemorrhage, let frontal sinus wall fracture, left orbital bone fracture, encephalomalacia in the bilateral frontal lobes, left eye ecchymosis, headaches, dizziness, disturbed sleep, post-traumatic vertigo, permanent and disfiguring scarring and other injuries.
For counts of negligence, the plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional arbitration limits, plus interest and costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas D. Berret of Hal K. Waldman & Associates, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
Beaver County Court of Common Pleas case 10448-2020
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com