Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead, NY
October 4, 2018. George and Melissa helped their client win a defense verdict in Nielsen v. Vermeer Manufacturing Company in Suffolk County, New York, in early October. Plaintiff claimed that Vermeer’s BC1800XL brush chipper was defective in design and Vermeer failed to provide adequate warnings and instructions for its safe use. Plaintiff was injured while working at Green-Wood Cemetery in the Bronx in December 2012 when his hand was caught between two logs on the brush chipper’s feed table while he was feeding a log into the brush chipper. He claimed defective design of the brush chipper’s feed rollers caused one of the logs to move sideways, impacting his hand. Vermeer defended the brush chipper’s design and warnings and instructions, and claimed that Nielsen’s own negligence caused his injuries. After a two week trial, the Court granted Vermeer’s motion to dismiss the design defect claim, but submitted the failure-to-warn claim to the jury. On October 4, 2018, the jury deliberated about one hour before returning a defense verdict, finding that Vermeer did not fail to provide adequate warnings and instructions for the brush chipper.
