 Court finds no negligence
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A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a warehouse worker who was injured in a forklift accident cannot sue the company that owns the warehouse, which regularly allowed workers to engage in unsafe practices such as standing on a forklift in motion.
According to a report in
Business Insurance, Carlton Hocutt appealed a summary judgment granted to Minda Supply Co., which owns the warehouse where he was injured, claiming the company was negligent in directing him to ride as a passenger on a forklift in violation of federal workplace safety regulations.
Forklifts are used at the warehouse to move pallets of supplies for the dry-cleaning industry, according to documents. "It was a common practice at the warehouse for a worker to ride on the forklift, standing on either the front or back of the forklift while it was moving. This practice violates federal workplace safety regulations."
Minda Supply, however, had never been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration prior to the three citations it collected after Hocutt's forklift accident, which caused a serious injury to his leg.
The appeals court upheld the trial ruling that although the practice that led to the accident was against regulations, it was "not enough to establish intentional wrong" that could prompt a negligence suit.