Lawsuit Settled Over Deadly Miss. Paper Mill Blast
Two brothers from Mooresville, N.C., who were injured in a deadly explosion at an International Paper Co. mill in Mississippi, have agreed to settle their federal lawsuit.
According to an article, the brothers were injured when a 12-story recovery boiler blew when workers tried to restart it after annual maintenance. The explosion happened at the Redwood plant on May 3, 2008. One man was killed and nearly two dozen others were hurt.
The boiler didn’t have adequate steam, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA fined International Paper $77,000 for two alleged violations.
The brothers, both in their late 20s, said they were burned on their faces and hands, suffered some hearing loss and were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, among other things.
They sued in U.S. District Court in Mississippi on Jan. 26, 2009. The lawsuit claimed International Paper recklessly ignited the boiler when it was filled with combustible gas.
The article stated that the settlement will help the brothers recover from financial and emotional hardships they have faced since the explosion.
An International Paper spokeswoman said six cases related to the explosion have been settled. Two are still pending in federal court and two are pending in state court.
The worker here is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through the employer. These benefits often are inadequate and may not be enough to cover a worker and his family, especially if the incident involves serious injuries that could keep the worker away from his/her job for a long time. It may be in the worker’s best interest, however, to also contact an experienced worker’s compensation attorney who can carefully examine the incident to identify any negligence or wrongdoing.
An experienced Pennsylvania work explosion injury attorney would also look into a “third party claim.” These are claims that are filed against parties that are not the worker’s employer. It could be a contractor, a sub-contractor, or even the manufacturer of a defective product. If it is determined that one of those parties was responsible for the accident and any injuries, then they could be held liable.
Any worker who has sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of their employment has a potential workers’ compensation claim. The injury can occur while traveling on business, doing a work-related errand, attending a required business-related social function, or even while on a break or using restroom facilities and you are still legally covered by workers compensation.
Whether your injury was a simple slip and fall, or involves serious injuries, Cherry, Fieger, & Marciano can help you. These dedicated PA work injury lawyers will do everything possible to get the monetary compensation that is owed to you to help pay medical bills, physical therapy, loss of work and more.
Source article: http://www.knoe.com/Global/story.asp?S=11895950
