How badly can you be injured at a tissue company?
Apparently quite significantly, particularly if a waterlogged bale of paper weighing over 1,000 pounds should happen to fall on you.
In Beadleston v. American Tissue Corp. , Donald Beadleston was struck by one such bale while waiting for his tractor-trailer to be unloaded.
Since, New York Labor Law § 200 provides that "a landowner has a duty to provide workers with a reasonably safe place to work," a Washington County Supreme Court held that American Tissue was negligent and violated the law. However, the Supreme Court apportioned 25% of the fault to Beadleston for knowingly disregarding the risk of injury when he walked across the loading dock.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Third Department, reiterated that § 200 is not limited to construction activity or when an owner controls the work. Beadleston only needed to establish that American Tissue "had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition."
And while it thought a recovery was appropriate, the AD3 did not agree with the Washington County Supreme Court's grant of $1,126,582 in damages in Beadleston's favor. A new trial was ordered unless both parties stipulated to the following sums:
(1) The $200,000 award for future medical expenses was considered "speculative" and reduced to $8,900.
(2) Since the $320,000 award for future lost wages was not established with "reasonable certainty," that number was reduced to zero.
(3) The $600,000 award for future pain and suffering deviated from other similar cases and was reduced to $450,000.
(4) The award of no damages for past pain and suffering was increased to $75,000 (because Beadleston suffered significant daily pain and impairment of his physical abilities during the time between the accident and the trial).
While Beadleston original recovery was reduced by over half a million, $540,482 is nothing to sneeze at!
For a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Beadleston v. American Tissue Corp.