Recent Case Results
The following is a sampling of the hundreds of injury cases Attorney Gardner has successfully handled in his career.
Client was a management level employee in a food distribution warehouse and, while inspecting stock in storage aisles on the warehouse floor, he was crushed by a forklift backing down one of the aisles. Client survived the accident but was left with severe, permanent injuries. Suit was filed against Hyster, the manufacturer of the forklift, asserting defective manufacture and against Aetna, the workers comp insurer of the client's employer, asserting negligence in conducting safety inspections of the workplace. The case settled on the first day of trial in federal court for $1.1 million.
Client's wife was driving to a neighboring town where she had a morning appointment with her hair dresser and planned thereafter to meet client for lunch at one of their favorite restaurants. She was killed when an oncoming pickup truck crossed over the center line of the highway and struck her car head-on. She was 45 years old and in good health at the time of the accident. She and client had been happily married for 16 years and she was, by all accounts, an upbeat person who loved life, her husband, her stepchildren and her grand children. Her case settled at private mediation for a confidential amount.
Client and her husband were returning from a pleasure daytrip when the other driver crossed over the centerline of the highway, hitting them head-on. The husband, who was retired, was killed instantly. The client suffered a broken leg. The defendant would not settle for an acceptable amount. The case went to arbitration and the arbitrators awarded $746,647.
Client worked in a paper mill as a "beaterman" mixing scrap paper with hot water and chemicals to make pulp for new paper. An eight inch hot water pipe, which ran along the ceiling of the room where he worked, burst, showering him with scalding water. He suffered third degree burns over 20% of his body requiring extended hospitalization and skin grafting. His case settled at private mediation one month before trial for $665,000.
Client suffered a crush/fracture of his lower leg on the job when the scissor lift he was occupying to perform pipe work on the ceiling of a warehouse collapsed, dropping the lift platform and client approximately twenty feet to the floor below. The case settled several weeks before trial for $360,000.
Client's son, who was 21 years old and a passenger in a car driven by an acquaintance, was killed when the car ran off the highway at a high rate of speed. The cased against the driver and the client's insurance company settled for $300,000, the maximum available coverage.
Client, who was headed to work, was hit head-on by the other driver in client's lane of travel. Both of client's legs were broken in the crash. The defendant would not settle for an acceptable amount. The case went to arbitration and the arbitrators awarded $235,000.
Client was walking through the parking lot of the local supermarket when a woman driving in the parking lot inadvertently pressed down on her gas pedal instead of her brake pedal, crashed into several parked cars and then struck client. Suit was brought against the driver and settled at court sponsored mediation for $250,000.
Client was helping a neighbor who was building an addition to his house. The scaffold plank on which client was standing, while holding a piece of siding against the house, collapsed. Client fell to the ground, breaking his arm. Suit was brought against the neighbor for negligence. The case settled at private mediation for $200,000.
Client was helping her neighbor who had rented a powered woodsplitter and was in the process of splitting the winter's supply of firewood. As client was loading a chunk of wood into the woodsplitter, another neighbor engaged the woodsplitter's control and the client's hand was caught in the machine. Her thumb and forefinger were partially amputated. Suit was brought against the manufacturer of the woodsplitter for defective manufacture and against the company that rented the woodsplitter for negligence. The defendants would not settle for an acceptable amount. The case went to trial and the jury awarded $100,000 against the rental company.