Man Claims Forklift Crushed Skull And Caused Blindness

A man has filed a personal injury suit against a forklift manufacturer, alleging that one of the machines crushed his skull and left him blind in one eye.

According to the suit filed by Henry Lambert in Texas’ Jefferson County District Court on February 25, he was caused severe injuries when his head became caught between the forklift’s boom and the top of the cab.

Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift and Adobe Equipment were named as defendants in the suit.

The suit says the incident took place shortly after midnight on October 25, 2007 during the course of Lambert’s work as a forklift operator at Commercial Metals in Beaumont, Texas.

The suit says that Lambert was attempting to pick up a large chain with the Cat 2003 Model DP 30K lift truck. After he drove the machine forward to place the forks under the chain, he leaned forward to make sure the chain was on the forks, then attempted to slowly move the boom back to raise the chain on the forklift.

However, he became caught between the boom and the top of the cab seconds later because the boom quickly moved back, resulting in his skull being crushed.

Lambert says that the incident also caused him blindness in one eye, C5 and C6 radiculopathy, crippling injuries to his cervical range of motion, and continued headaches.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of Cat Lift Truck for failure to provide an adequate operator presence detection system, having a boom that moved too swiftly, failure to provide warnings of a dangerous pinch point between the boom and top of the cab, and designing the fork lift so that the boom could tilt far enough back to create a dangerous pinch point.

Lambert seeks unspecified damages.