$2.5 Million Jury Verdict for Serious Injuries to Forklift Operator Caused by Negligent Maintenance of Trailer

A forklift operator, Olynthus Davis, was loading a tractor-trailer equipped with a securement system that consisted of metal tracks running the length of the trailer. Davis, 36, operated his forklift inside the trailer. The end of one of the tracks of the securement system pierced the cargo area and impaled Davis’s left leg near the knee. The impact also forced his right elbow into the steering wheel.

Davis underwent debridement and multiple wound care procedures. He required a wheelchair for several weeks and used crutches and a walker for months. Davis also underwent an ulnar nerve exploration surgery and has been diagnosed with having a neuroma, which will require surgery.

A neuroma is a painful condition sometimes called a “pinched nerve.” A neuroma has also been described as a thickening of nerve tissue that can develop in different parts of the body. More specifically, a neuroma of the ulnar nerve occurs most often because of a trauma such as what Davis experienced. The clinical presentation of a neuroma of the ulnar nerve is pain and tenderness to the touch. This would be the case of Davis’s injured elbow.

Davis’s medical expenses were more than $87,300 and his past lost earnings or income totaled more than $54,600. He is no longer able to work.

Davis sued Xtra Lease LLC, the owner of the tractor-trailer, and AAA Cooper Transportation, the trailer’s lessee, claiming negligent maintenance and repair of the trailer.

Davis’s expert argued at trial that the track inside the trailer had loosened and flexed away from the trailer’s wall.

The jury signed a verdict of over $2.5 million assigning liability at 50% to Xtra Lease, 40% to AAA Cooper and 10% to Davis for his role or for his contributory negligence.

The attorneys representing Davis were Dean Malone and Royce West.

Davis’s attorneys presented experts specializing in physical medicine, economics, trucks and hand surgery.

Davis v. AAA Cooper Transportation, No. DC-16-10773 (Tex. Dist. Ct. Dallas County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling forklift injury lawsuits, truck accident cases, product defect lawsuits, catastrophic injury lawsuits and work injury lawsuits for individuals, families and loved ones who have been injured, harmed or killed by the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Mount Prospect, Schaumburg, Inverness, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Chicago (Washington Park, Hyde Park, Bronzeville, Albany Park, Rogers Park, Bridgeport, Canaryville), Naperville, Rolling Meadows, Romeoville, Matteson, Arlington Heights and South Holland, Ill.