May 16, 2018
London Fischer LLP congratulates Brian A. Kalman for obtaining a defense verdict in a two-month product liability/construction trial in Bronx County, New York. The mechanical contractor and engineer of record for the construction of a boiler plant for a major hospital claimed that the client negligently designed and manufactured a breeching system that exhausted combustion gases from four commercial boilers. The mechanical contractor claimed that the size of the breeching caused excessive pressure in the breeching system to the extent that the breeching system vibrated excessively and caused clean-out port covers to be sucked into the system and blown off the system. The mechanical contractor claimed that the client’s defectively designed breeching system required a subcontractor to weld angle irons to the clean-out port covers to reinforce the covers to prevent vibration and the covers from being sucked in and blown off. Plaintiff claimed he was struck by the angle iron welded to the one of the clean-out port covers. Plaintiff claimed he sustained injuries to his cervical spine and wrists. Plaintiff underwent cervical spine fusion surgery and carpal tunnel release surgery to both wrists. Plaintiff claimed that as a 40-year-old he was unable to return to work for the remainder of his life.
Following a two month trial, the jury deliberated for nearly three days before returning a defense verdict to our client. Plaintiff was awarded $5,935,000 against the engineer of record, mechanical contractor and construction manager.
