‘4.15M for Product Liability'
November 12, 2007
By Henry Gottlieb
Silvestro v. Group Lacasse Inc.: A worker who suffered head
injuries from a falling, 150-pound hutch settled with a manufacturer last Monday
for $4 million.
George Silvestro was at his desk at Expand Networks, Inc. in Roseland on March
10, 2003, when the hutch on his desk fell on his head. Now 50, he
suffers from memory loss, vision problems, vertigo and stuttering, says his
lawyers, David Mazie and Adam Slater of Mazie Slater Katz &
Freeman in Roseland.
The suit charged the accident was due to a defect in the in the hutch-desk, made
by Group Lacasse Inc. of St. Pie, Quebec. The hutch was attached with
one-sided tape, not metal brackets or straps. The defense argued the tape
was adequate, that alternate designs would have ruined the aesthetics and that
there was evidence the injuries were psychosomatic, Mazie says.
Group Lacasse lawyer Thomas Kuzmick of Rawle & Henderson in Philadelphia did not
return calls.
The case settled in mediation with retired judge Mark Epstein of Hoagland,
Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas in New Brunswick.
Mazie says Silvestro earlier settled for $150,000 with furniture supplier Eagle
Office Furnishings Inc. of Windsor Ontario, represented by Michelle Wall of
Melli, Guerin & Wall in Paramus.
A workers' compensation lien of $250,000 will be paid, Mazie says. (Click
here for
pdf copy of article).
Contact New Jersey brain injury lawyer David Mazie.
