A factory worker whose hand was amputated as he cleaned out a piece of industrial food equipment was awarded $4.8 million in a settlement with the maker and seller of the machine, comprising a cash payment of $4.3 million and an assignment of a contribution claim worth $500,000+. The recovery set the Illinois record for the highest compensatory award for a single amputation lawsuit.
Perhaps making the recovery even more remarkable was that the worker’s hand was salvaged and eventually reattached. He regained partial functioning of the hand but was never able to return to work as a maintenance technician.
Marungo was represented by Matthew S. Sims, Joshua L. Weisberg and Melanie J. VanOverloop of Rapoport Weisberg & Sims, P.C., who alleged the machine had been unsafely modified by the defendants at the request of his employer.
