Forklift manufacturer accused of negligence in worker fatality

The family of a Sanford, ME man killed in an industrial accident blames the manufacturer of a forklift for a design flaw that allowed the man to become pinned when he backed up under a shelving unit, according to an AP report.

An adaptation could have corrected the flaw in the 1989 Crown standup lift truck that killed Thomas Brown, the family’s lawyer, Terry Garmey, told jurors in U.S. District Court.

Brown was vulnerable to the type of accident that killed him on Aug. 1, 2003, because Crown Equipment Corp. didn’t share safety information with Brown’s employer, Prime Tanning, Garmey said. The company didn’t notify Crown of 10 other deaths and 90 serious injuries caused in the same manner as Brown’s, nor did it say how to make the truck safer, he said.

Crown contends that Brown was responsible for the accident because he was “careless in the operation of the lift truck,” according to James Campbell, Crown’s attorney.

Brown was backing up the truck when he hit the rack of shelves. The impact knocked his feet off the pedals, automatically engaging the emergency brake. Pinned and unable to move, he died within four minutes, Garmey said.

Brown’s family is seeking $400,000 for wrongful death, $1.2 million in economic damages and $75,000 in punitive damages.