PHILADELPHIA – A manufacturer disavows all claims of negligence it is facing from a Bucks County man whose legs were allegedly crushed while using a turntable stretch wrapper machine.
Plaintiff Richard Ross of Levittown first filed his complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 1, versus Wulftec International, Inc. of Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec, Canada and Duravant, LLC, of Downers Grove, Ill.
According to the suit, plaintiff was at The PolyCube Company, LLC facility in Levittown, working for it as a production and maintenance supervisor. Meanwhile, defendants Wulftec International, Inc. and Duravant, LLC were responsible for designing and installing an Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper, as used at The PolyCube Company.
“The subject Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper is a stretch wrapping system consisting of a turntable in the shape of an octagon attached to a steel tower embodying a control panel. The structure is made of heavy-duty structural steel. A control section including a large emergency stop button is located on the side of the tower. Pallets containing material to be stretch-wrapped can be placed onto the turntable by an operator. The turntable rotates, and rolled stretch-wrap material ascends and descends the tower, wrapping the objects on the turntable,” the suit stated.
The suit explained the Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper was located directly adjacent to a conveyor belt consisting of metal rollers to facilitate the loading of material onto the octagon-shaped turntable, with the narrow area between the turntable and the conveyor belt creating an unguarded pinch hazard to those working with the Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper.
“Because of the strength of the components and the close-proximity between the turntable and the conveyor belt, this pinch hazard was capable of doing severe damage to anyone caught between the two components. Moreover, the location of the emergency stop button on the tower was beyond the reach of anyone caught between the turntable and the conveyor belt and created a hazard to anyone such as plaintiff who became entangled with the turntable. This dangerous and unsafe hazard was not safeguarded to prevent worker access while the turntable was in operation as required by code, statute, and good safety engineering practice,” the suit stated.
As a result, when using the Automatic Turntable Stretch Wrapper device, Ross attempted to adjust plastic wrap around a palette of material, when suddenly and without warning, the turntable started rotating, pinning the plaintiff’s legs between the turntable and conveyor belt, thereby causing him to suffer severe and grievous crush injuries to both of his legs.
UPDATE
Defendant Duravant filed an answer to Ross’s suit on July 28, contending it was not responsible for his injuries in denying his allegations, and asserting 13 affirmative defenses. Among them were the following:
• Plaintiff’s claims are barred and/or limited by the provisions of the Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act;
• By plaintiff’s actions at the time, date, and place stated in the complaint, plaintiff assumed the risk of any and all injuries and/or damages which they is alleged to have suffered;
• The claims of the plaintiff are barred or limited by the misuse and abuse of any product supplied in any fashion by the answering defendant;
• Any claims the plaintiff or any other party to this action based upon alleged warranties, express or implied, are barred in that there was no privity of contract between the plaintiff and answering defendant and there has been no timely notice of any alleged breach of warranty given to answering defendant;
• Plaintiff’s conduct should constitute a defense in that decedent’s conduct, rather than a defect in the product, should be deemed the legal cause of the incident.
For multiple counts of negligence, strict product liability, breach of warranty, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess $150,000, together with costs of suit, interest and reasonable attorneys’ fees, as well as any such other relief as the Court deems adequate, just and proper, in addition to a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Brandon A. Swartz, Bryan Michael Ferris and Matthew J. McElvenny of Swartz Culleton, in Newtown.
The defendants are represented by John J. Snyder, Joseph A. Gorman and William J. Carr Jr. of Rawle & Henderson, Lauren C. Fantini of McEldrew Young and Henry J. Noye of Bunker & Ray, all in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-02107
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com