EDWARDSVILLE — A hammermill operator is suing a group of Vermeer companies, alleging a grinder's deflector shield was poorly designed, leading to injuries.
Robert Howard filed a lawsuit June 17 in Madison County Circuit Court against Vermeer Manufacturing Company, doing business as Vermeer Corporation, Vermeer Midwest, Vermeer Sales & Services MI, Inc. and Vermeer Texas-Louisiana alleging breach of implied warranty, failure to warn and negligence.
According to the complaint, on March 22, while Howard was changing the teeth of a Vermeer HG8000 horizontal grinder, a large gust of wind blew the deflector shield down, causing it to hit the top of his head and cracking his hard hat. The suit says he suffered serious injuries and economic damages.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants failed to properly test the component of the deflector shield, failed to include proper instructions, failed to detect the defect in the product and failed to provide adequate warnings.
Howard seeks a trial by jury, judgment of more than $50,000 and any additional remedy the court deems fair and just. He is represented by attorneys D. Todd Mathews and Randy L. Gori of Gori, Julian & Associates PC in Edwardsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 16L853