Smith Elliott Smith & Garmey
Verdicts & Settlements
$4.0 Million Dollar Wrongful Death Verdict - Maine Supreme Court Agrees That Manufacturers Must Warn of Product Dangers Even After Sale
Over a period of three years, Smith Elliott trial lawyers fought doggedly in three courts to prove that, in Maine, manufacturers must warn purchasers and users of serious hazards posed by their products – including providing warnings after the sale to purchasers when the manufacturer should know that death or serious injury may occur. The case established precedent-settling law in the area of products liability, and the firm’s product liability team successfully battled against a group of national trial lawyers as well as the powerful political force of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
The firm’s client – Claire Brown – came to Smith Elliott after her husband Tom died a traumatic death of compressive asphyxia while driving his Crown forklift at work. Upon making a turn, the rear of Tom’s forklift had travelled underneath a horizontal shelf, crushing Tom’s body within the 5 ½ inch space between the bottom of the shelf and the control panel of his forklift. Smith Elliott trial lawyers Terry Garmey and Nicole Lorenzatti proved that Tom was not the first to die under like circumstances, and that Crown had received prior notice of 220 similar incidents, including claims of serious injury and death which Crown accepted as truthful. They also proved that Crown had manufactured guarding which would have prevented Tom’s death. Though Crown had visited Tom’s employer before his death, and knew that its forklift would be operated in the shelving area posing risk of serious harm and death, Crown provided no warning and did not disclose the existence of a protective guard.
Against a vehement defense, Garmey and Lorenzatti established that Tom Brown died an unnecessary, preventable death, and that manufacturers in Maine have a duty to warn of product dangers even after the point of sale. The Maine jury awarded an unprecedented verdict of $4.0 million dollars to Claire Brown, and the verdict was upheld. Prime Tanning, Tom Brown’s employer, supported Claire Brown and Smith Elliott during all levels of the litigation.
Terry Garmey and Nicole Lorenzatti are both members of the firm’s Product Liability Practice Group, and also practice in other areas of civil litigation.