Aside from awarding a few extra costs, a jury’s $3.8-million verdict against Willis Enterprises stood up Monday in the final judgment entered by Grays Harbor Superior Court Judge Mark McCauley.
McCauley added about $4,200 in costs but left the rest of the jury’s verdict as written. The verdict for Verl and Marsha Lee was announced March 6. The couple sued Willis Enterprises and its employee, Daniel Fletcher, for an injury Verl Lee suffered at the company’s Oakville chip mill.
Verl Lee now suffers from severe tinnitus and hyperacusis, an abnormal sensitivity to sound. His attorneys said the injury has forced Lee to give up his job, driving, and his work as an elder in his church and director of the church choir.
According to the complaint, Lee was working on a piece of equipment at the mill when Fletcher touched a live electrical component with a screwdriver, causing a 700-volt arc. The resulting sound permanently damaged Lee’s hearing.
His attorneys said Lee has to wear special headphones in order to function, and can no longer participate in many social events he once enjoyed.
“He can’t be in a situation like a church potluck or dinner where there’s a lot of noise. He can’t interact with people in that kind of a social setting,” said attorney Ray Kahler of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan, the Hoquiam firm that represented the Lees.
Willis Enterprises and Fletcher are represented by Tom Brown and Mike Spencer of Brown, Lewis, Janhunen and Spencer in Aberdeen. They have 30 days to file an appeal of the verdict. Calls to Brown for comment were not returned.
No comments:
Post a Comment