WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT:  SLS represents family of truck driver killed by falling steel at a South Carolina steel mill.

Case Information:  Estate of Eddie Wright, et al. v. Nucor Corporation, et al.
United States District Court for District of South Carolina - Charleston Division  Case No. 2:08-cv-3727-CWH

Description:  SLS attorney Jim Myers repesentated the wife and Estate of truck driver Eddie Wright, who was crushed and killed in an industrial accident in February 2007 in South Carolina.  On the date of the accident, Mr. Wright was to have 40,000 pounds of steel I-beams loaded onto his trator-trailer.  During the loading process, a bundle of steel beams weighting 5,700 pounds fell from the trailer and landed on Mr. Wright.  The steel was being loaded onto Mr. Wright's tractor-trailer by a fork truck operated by an employee of Nucor.

SLS' client claimed the accident was caused by Nucor's (1) failure to provide a safe place for truck drivers to stay during the loading process; (2) request that Mr. Wright assist the fork lift driver in setting the load; (3) failure to follow the fork lift manufacturer's safety warnings; and (4) failure of Nucor's employee to properly set the load of steel on the tractor-trailor.  The steel company denied all liability and alleged the accident was Mr. Wright's fault for being near the trailer at the time the steel fell from the trailer.

Confidential Settlement:  After almost three years litigation, a substantial settlement for the client was reached.  The settlement, which will be shared by the deceased truck driver's wife and four children, was approved by the federal court in South Carolina on April 13, 2010.

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