Man wins $1.5 million in Ryobi table saw lawsuit

[Stytooner]

One more interesting point in this case and others to come, look at the list of names on this info I,m providing and tell me if I,m wrong but looks like most of the litigants are foreign, or so it appears.,.., http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...P0ox8DTuLhU1sA

Actually that is a very like smattering of names that I ship to every week.
Apparently not all that uncommon.

[tommyt654]

Hey thats cool Lee, We agree to disagree, In a perfect world this guy would have never gotten hurt or anyone else for that matter, but I feel an individual has to practice due diligence in any craft they decide to undertake. This is where the fault truly lies,not with the manufacturers and as I,m seeing it and I believe the courts ultimately will bend to common sense in this matter.We can only pray so, for our hobby is to become doomed I feel if not.Its funny because yrs ago a group of fellow woodworkers in Marietta that I had an opportunity to become associated with had banded together to help instruct people with interest in our hobby on the proper safety techniques for operating and using power tools, unfortunately we were shut down by some community activist who insisited we were a threat to the community as we were not insured to do so. Our schools no longer teach woodshop and our craft is dying because of it, Its truly a shame what has become of our society. I feel these lawsuits only add to there furor

[LCHIEN]

I'm going to play the devils advocate point of view now following reading the last days comments.

Mr Osario (the plaintiff) did not have a choice of saws as many of you maintain he did. He may not have had training or had the manual to read, as his employer probably bought the saw and tossed the manual or filed it away. He might really be most justified in suing his employer but more likely, as is the case in many civil lawsuits, he and his lawyers decided to sue the richest parties, i.e. the toolmaker.

Mr. Gass, has the right to set the prices he wants. You may think he has low expenses and not too much invested and therefore his prices are too high. However, have you ever considered how much liability he is exposed to? If any saws with saw stop technology (and that all future saws by his current strategy), or his saws are involved in an accident for failing to work or even if the user turned off the sensing, he would have a expensive law suit defending/ proving he was not at fault (and I suspect personally its pretty reliable). If the licensed companies failed to implement the invention correctly, then he would also likely be a lawsuit target even if the failure to implement correctly is not his fault. As a large company with lots of cash income he would be a lawsuit magnet just as the tool companies are now.

most of the saw stop demo videos i've seen show a hot dog being push VERRRRY slowly into the blade. And getting a small nick (about 1/16th) due to the response time of the circuit and blade retraction. I wonder how bad the damage would be if someone was doing a fast rip on thin stock or even just fell into the blade... Ten times the speed, you get 10 times the travel or 10 x 1/16th inch nick (about 5/8ths inch deep) or enough to cut a finger bone off. Still better than without the retractor (where you'd lose 2-3 fingers) but you know some jerk who loses a finger with Gass's device will sue Gass saying you said it would protect me...

[dkerfoot]

Tommy - Are you a white supremacist nut job or do you just come across as one? Those look like the names of people I served with in the US Military.

Your comment is offensive and incredibly ill-considered.

One more interesting point in this case and others to come, look at the list of names on this info I,m providing and tell me if I,m wrong but looks like most of the litigants are foreign, or so it appears.,.., http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...P0ox8DTuLhU1sA

[tommyt654]

Nope, Just saying what you were all thinking after I pointed it out. It incredibly easy for attorneys in these styled case,s to prey on individuals from poorer economic situations by promising the pot at the end of the rainbow, I,m no racist but I am a realist I would hope others here would wise up to whats really going on here. While I don,t or can,t say for sure these people are all american citizens I have my doubts after looking at that list, I just call,em as I see them if you don,t like it tough afaik. But you,ll have to admit it looks a little suspicious to me and after all they are advertising for litigants worldwide in these case,s. Yes I,m a white supremacist born to an all Irish/German /Catholic family from Baltimore Md.Some folks here are funny as ****.,http://www.oregoninjurylawyerblog.co...ology_can.html,.,http://www.tablesawattorney.com/,.,http://ploufflaw.com/cases-of-intere...accidents.html

[phi1l]

Tommy obviously has never lived in Chicago, most of those names look perfectly normal to me.

[JimZ]

Shockingly, after paying for my sons' next-year tuitions, I still have some cash left over in the bank.

I had a moment of stupidity/carelessness years ago and dinged my thumb (thankfully not severely) on a different tablesaw. I have never forgotten it. I was careful before -- I am fastidious now.I consider my BT3000 a carnivore in waiting, to be treated with caution.

So I had been watching SawStop a lot recently, trying to determine if the technology is reliable enough to purchase. (I R an electrical engineer by trade. This is not a trivial question to me). Its a verry cool solution, albeit an expensive one. But if the design requirement is "protect the digits at whatever cost" it''s a respectable approach. And I'd been procrastinating the purchase for the last six months -- hey, I'm cheap, and the SawStop is not..

But finding out Gass testified for the plaintiff has completely changed my mind. He's struck a blow AGAINST personal responsibility, in favor of frivilous ltitigation, under circumstances where he is has a deep financial interest. That's a "crank me off" trifecta of major proportions to me.

Do not misunderstand -- had the employee sued his own employer, alleging misconduct such as not supplying training, or using genuinely defective tools (i.e. blade guard NOT available), I'd be much more neutral about it.

But as it is, I have many names in mind for Gass. None of them printable. I'll give up woodworking (a lifelong hobby for me) before I ever support the continued poisoning of the American mind against the concept of personal responsibility. Especially by one who stands to gain financially.

(In case I am being too subtle, "incensed" is an excellent adjective for my state of mind right now)

Presuming the case is even remotely as presented in Wood magaine (I plan to research it more next month), there seems to be little, short of being falling-down-drunk, that the plaintiff could have done to further increase his chances of injury. And the SAW is to blame ?

I weep for civilization.

[crybdr]

Agreed...it's a ridiculous consensus for a jury to arrive at - especially from our point of view as woodworkers. But, most people today rely on our government to protect them from danger..... "oops...I cut myself with a kitchen knife, is there any way I can sue the manufacturer? This is obviously a dangerous product!"

Working with powered woodwoking tools is akin to handling a loaded weapon. Training is a must and one must always be thinking of safety before making a cut or pulling the trigger.

I don't believe the CPSC is involved in regulating firearms. And I hope that they don't change their regulation of the table saw as we know it today. When used with respect, forethought, and sufficient training - both firearms and tablesaws are economical, efficient and safe devices. Accidents will always happen - but the vast majority can be blamed squarely upon the user.

Like most have said, this is likely to be overturned at some point. The fault lies with the employer in my mind for many reasons. How many OSHA violations occurred leading up to this event (no training, removed guards, removed stand, etc.)? I know 'deep pockets' preceed subsequent prosecution of defendants that are lower on the monetary food chain - but I hope that this employer has been fined and firmly warned of their mistakes in providing employee safety.

This accident would have happened with ANY saw on the market - perhaps even a SawStop, considering the events leading up to the injury. SawStop assumes general safety practices and only provides a level of safety assuming such.

SawStop is a nifty technology with a real & tangible benefit - but forcing it upon consumers at this price through this method leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'd love the peace of mind - but it wouldn't make me pay many hundreds of dollars more for it. Peace of mind makes one lazy and sloppy.

[pelligrini]

Christopher Schwarz had a nice little letter from the editor in the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking. He did not come down on the side of the Sawstop. I don't have the article with me but there was something in there to the effect of 'I don't care if they don't advertize in this magazine again'.

[natausch]

It boils down to litigants who have ignored and disabled every safety feature on the tools in question.

Even Sawstop has a diable feature for cutting wet wood. Considering the employer went out and bought the cheapest saw at Home Depot do you really think if flesh sensing technology was required on all saws that they wouldn't disable it?

[Hoover]

If the saw had the Saw Stop technology on it, it would cost way more than the $185 paid for by his employer. If the decision on this case isn't overturned in an appeals court, the future looks depressing for having an affordable saw.

[pelligrini]

Christopher Schwarz had a nice little letter from the editor in the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking. He did not come down on the side of the Sawstop. I don't have the article with me but there was something in there to the effect of 'I don't care if they don't advertize in this magazine again'.

It was;
"As a result of this column, we might never see another dime of advertising from SawStop. So be it."