Worker settles ‘exploding-wrench’ suit for $2.5M

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A Federalsburg man has reached a $2.5 million settlement with his former employer over a rail yard accident that left him permanently disabled.

Michael A. Blades II injured his back in October 2009 when he fell after a wrench “exploded” in his hands as he tried to remove a heating element from a cylinder-like tank, according to his lawsuit against The Maryland & Delaware Railroad Co. Blades needed a spinal stimulator implanted after the fall and can no longer work due to the chronic pain, one of his lawyers said.

Blades was 38 years old at the time of the accident and had been working for the Federalsburg-based rail company since 2001, most recently as chief mechanical officer, according to the lawsuit filed in April 2012 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

He had undergone back surgery in 2004 and was using a cane on the day he was injured, the complaint said.

Blades’ manager ordered him to remove the heating element with a 24-inch pipe wrench, the complaint states. Robert E. Myers, Blades’ lawyer, said the wrench’s handle, which should have been straight, was bowed or U-shaped.

“It was falling apart,” Myers said. “The metal was breaking down.”

The general manager turned down Blades’ request for assistance and would not allow him to use a newer wrench or a pneumatic device to remove the piece, the lawsuit states. A pneumatic device was available but the correct socket was not on site, according to Myers.

Blades could not move his legs after the fall and was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the lawsuit.

After Blades was injured, his manager reassembled the wrench and had someone else finish the work, Myers said. The wrench broke again but the other worker was “younger and more able-bodied” and was not knocked over, he said.

“This is the person my client wanted to do the job because he was more physically capable,” said Myers, whose Philadelphia-area represents injured railroad workers across the country.

Blades remained with Maryland & Delaware Railroad for another year before he was fired in October 2010, losing his medical coverage in the process, Myers said.

“It’s a very horrendous way to treat somebody,” Myers said.

Howard S. Stevens, a lawyer for the railroad company, declined to comment on the case. Stevens is a partner with Wright, Constable, & Skeen LLP in Baltimore.

The lawsuit, filed under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, sought damages in an unspecified amount, but more than $150,000.

The parties agreed to mediation and met three times in nine months last year, according to Myers. Blades’ lawyers submitted reports from two medical experts, a vocational expert and a life-care planner, while engineering experts on both sides met at a metallurgic lab to perform destructive testing on the defective wrench, according to Myers.

The action was dismissed in December after the settlement order was signed in November, according to online court records.

“[For] someone clearly with a physical handicap to begin with, to force him to engage in physical activity that was beyond his capability with a defective tool was outrageous,” Myers said. “The whole incident could have easily been avoided.”

MICHAEL A. BLADES II V. THE MARYLAND & DELAWARE RAILROAD CO.

Court:

U.S. District Court, Baltimore

Case No.:

1:12-cv-01147-WDQ

Judge:

William D. Quarles Jr.

Outcome:

Settlement for plaintiff of $2.5 million

Dates:

Event: Oct. 20, 2009

Suit filed: April 16, 2012

Settlement order: Nov. 19, 2014

Plaintiff’s Attorneys:

Robert E. Myers and Lawrence A. Katz of Coffey Kaye Myers & Olley in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

Defendant’s Attorneys:

Howard S. Stevens and Frederick L. Kobb of Wright, Constable & Skeen LLP in Baltimore

Count:

Damages under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act