On February 23, 2017, a garbage man loaded a large couch/bulk waste item from the curb onto his front-loading garbage truck while a customer was near the truck. Without making sure the customer was in the clear, the driver then began an operation to throw the couch over the top of the truck, into the hopper located in the center of the truck. When the couch was at its peak over the garbage truck, and as the customer was making his way toward the front door of his Orland Park home, it became unstable, fell from the bucket and tumbled over the side of the truck, falling on top of the plaintiff.
Plaintiff, formerly a roll off driver, sustained an injury to the cervical region of the spine and a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and is now restricted to light/sedentary work. The defense asserted that plaintiff was contributorily negligent for standing too close to the truck during lifting operations.
The settlement was entered into during the jury selection process and was paid by the insurance company for waste hauler. The defendant also apologized to the plaintiff in open court as a condition of the settlement.
Bob Napleton and Brion Doherty represented the plaintiff.