Man wins $1.5 million in Ryobi table saw lawsuit

[Old Lurker]

Man wins $1.5m in first of its kind saw case

A Boston jury has awarded $1.5 million to a Malden man who injured his fingers on a saw while installing oak wood flooring several years ago in a first of its kind case that claimed the standard design of American table saws is defective.

Carlos Osorio accused One World Technologies Inc., maker of Ryobi saws, of negligence for failing to include a flesh detection technology that would prevent most serious injuries, according to a copy of the complaint filed in 2006 in US District Court in Boston.

http://www.boston.com/business/artic...kind_saw_case/

The complaint was filed on April 24, 2006: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27961064/Osorio-Complaint

Does anybody know which Ryobi table saw this was?

I'm sorry this man lost some of his fingers, but he shouldn't have had his fingers in front of the saw blade in the first place. Looks like the inventor of Sawstop will become a rich man if they require his technology on all saws.

[Shep]

How could this guy win this lawsuit based upon a technology that is protect by US patent laws?

[radhak]

we discussed this at length last week : And So it begins

Any which way I look at it, I don't like it.

But when so many zeros appear in close conjunction, you can bet on seeing more of these lawsuits, particularly with a jury system that is easily swayed by sight of a bloodied hand and tales of 'pain and suffering'.

[Alex Franke]

So it's the saw's fault that his fingers got in the way?

Sure safety is important, but this ruling disturbs me...

[tommyt654]

I,d suggest everyone here except Sawslop owners contact there tablesaw manufacturers and offer expert testimony on their behalf as to who,s responsible in this incident, clearly not the manufacturers, and this shoiuld end this discussion I hope, no use beating a dead horse.

[Old Lurker]

we discussed this at length last week : And So it begins

Any which way I look at it, I don't like it.

But when so many zeros appear in close conjunction, you can bet on seeing more of these lawsuits, particularly with a jury system that is easily swayed by sight of a bloodied hand and tales of 'pain and suffering'.

Sorry, I used the search function to see if it was posted already, but I didn't find an existing post (used the wrong search terms I guess).

[woodturner]

Boston jury has awarded $1.5 million

This is the key - he hasn't won anything yet. A jury has just recommended that award. In a great many of these cases, the judge will rule that there is insufficient evidence to support the judgment and either throw it out entirely or significantly reduce the amount.

If if the jury recommendation is accepted, it is likely to be appealed, and likely that a higher court will overturn the judgment. If it were me, I would appeal this decision until it was overturned - if any one case is won, it sets a very damaging precedent I would not want to have extent in case law.

This is one of those cases were it's to the manufacturer's financial advantage to spend a few million to avoid a loss - the impact on other pending and future cases is too significant to let this one go.

[JSUPreston]

By this account, I guess I need to figure out who was the maker of the mandolin that cut the tip of my thumb off last month. Even though it was my own stupidity that caused it, and they were able to reattach everything, I feel that I am due at least $250k. What do y'all think?

In all seriousness, if it were a malfunction of the saw due to manufacturing flaw/design defect, etc., I could see where someone would have a case for a law suit. I bet the guy just took the saw out of the box, mounted the blade and turned it on. What do you bet that he never installed the blade guard or even read the manual enough to see all the warnings about the dangers of a blade spinning at over 4 or 5k RPM?

[jarheadbigdaddy]

Lawyers are always trolling

Let us remember the large out of court settlement against McDonald's over spilled hot coffee by an elderly lady. The lawyers are always looking for "the settlement" when at all possible. Frivolous law suits have increased liability insurance costs to most companies, small businesses and health professionals.

I have owned 2 small companies myself. One in construction and one in wholesale goods. Insurance for the construction was a lot higher than for wholesale due to lack of need to work on private property and lack of equipment to be operated.

Lack of tort reform is why I am against the new health care legislation. If they included some tort reform, I might have a second thought.

I think the guy that lost the finger(s) would not have bought a saw with that technology if it cost a lot more. I bought my BT3000 because it was affordable.

As in any purchase, there may be more risk involved with the more affordable price versus the best money can buy!

[Old Lurker]

Back in my former life, I was a sheet metal fabricator and crushed the tips of my fingers in a 90 ton brake press. Too bad I wasn't smart enough to get an attorney to defend me for not paying attention to what I was doing.

[sparkeyjames]

If someone from the maker of that saw pushed his fingers into the blade then yes $$$. If not then he should get nothing. He's an idiot that should not be allowed around power tools. It will probably be over turned on appeal.

When the blade is spinning it has your utmost respect and a healthy dose of your attention as well. My personal rule is hands and fingers 6 inches from the table saw blade, or if it has to be closer the hand holds a push stick or the piece gets clamped to a sled or some other device, no exceptions. When will people stop blaming (and suing) others for their own stupidity?

[docrowan]

When will people stop blaming (and suing) others for their own stupidity?

When we make a simple, yet fundamental change to American jurisprudence - loser pays. It's known to lawyers as the English rule. A litigant with some skin in the game is far less likely to file a frivolous lawsuit. I'd like to say more, but it starts verging on political.

[Hoover]

The expert witness for the plaintiff was Dr.Gass. Hardly an independent witness for the prosecution, (Inventor of the SawStop). This could be bad for other saw manufacturers, if this case holds up. Liability for the most part, doesn't have definite term of responsibility. Liability claims for small aircraft put most of them out of business.

[chopnhack]

I guess whoever needs a new saw should buy now before the prices go through the roof!

[parnelli]

When will people stop blaming (and suing) others for their own stupidity?

When we make a simple, yet fundamental change to American jurisprudence - loser pays.

Well- another thing that might help would be that everyone has to serve jury duty of some form.

When only the people not smart enough to get out of jury duty are the ones deciding all these cases, we shouldn't be surprised when they don't make smart decisions.