Widow Sues After Truck Driver Crushed Beneath Steel Beams

The wife of a truck driver killed in a Florida warehouse has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that owned the warehouse. The truck driver was crushed beneath several steel beams after a stack of steel beams weighing about 7,000 lbs. fell on the trucker after it was unsecured. The trucker was tasked with loading the beams onto his truck. The warehouse employees unlatched the steel beams. Once they did that, the stack toppled over on top of the truck driver killing him instantly.

The company Kloeckner Metals, Inc., headquartered in Georgia, has not responded to requests from the family to determine what happened. However, their failure to respond to requests from the grieving widow is an indication that they’re girding themselves for a lawsuit, which is now forthcoming.

Duty of Care

Essentially, this is a premises liability lawsuit. The truck driver was invited onto the property where he was expected to pick up steel beams for delivery. When the attempt was made, the stack crumbled killing the truck driver.

In a premises liability lawsuit, the burden of proof falls on the plaintiff to show that the defendant either knew about the dangerous condition, should have known about the dangerous condition, or caused the dangerous condition themselves. In this case, it’s apparent that the steel beams were stacked improperly and that’s when the stack fell on top of the truck driver.

The sheriff’s department was tasked with removing the steel beams and recovering the truck driver’s body. Meanwhile, an OSHA investigation is underway to determine the cause of the catastrophic incident. Lastly, the company will be liable for the death of the truck driver having created the dangerous condition that led to his death, likely by failing to comply with safety regulations that could have prevented a needless death.

Since 2013, OSHA has conducted 26 investigations on Kloeckner Metals, Inc. Kloeckner has sites all across the U.S. To date, this is the first incident against Koleckner at its Florida site. Two other fatalities have been reported at Kloeckner facilities, one in Connecticut and the other in New Hampshire.

Damages

Wrongful death lawsuits are filed on behalf of grieving family members against a negligent party. Damages include lost wages, medical expenses, burial expenses, and noneconomic damages including the deceased’s pain and suffering alongside the emotional grief of the family members he left behind.

In this case, the wife of the deceased will be able to file a claim against the company as well as any adult children, and anyone who was financially dependent on the deceased.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today

In cases where an employee is injured on the job, they can file a lawsuit against the negligent party so long as the negligent party is not their own employer. In the case mentioned above, it was a third party who allowed an unsafe condition on the premises to kill a driver from another company. If you believe you have a claim against a negligent company, contact the Miami personal injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. today for a free consultation.

Resource:

freightwaves.com/news/widow-of-trucker-crushed-by-steel-beams-moves-forward-with-lawsuit

https://www.goldfarbpa.com/train-derailment-victims-square-off-against-amtrak/