In 2014, Cheri Conklin, then in her late 40s, was using her fingers to smooth out wrinkles in the tape of a machine  producing bundles of insulated wire for use in aircraft when the pad of her right index finger was grabbed by the machine’s in-running belts. Eventually, both hands were ensnared by the belts. Conklin claimed the machine’s maker, RT Engineering Corp., failed to include a guard on the machine that would prevent such an accident.

RTE claimed it shipped a guard to be assembled with the rest of the machine, but Conklin’s employer, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies Inc., failed to install it. RTE also claimed Conklin put her hand in a dangerous part of the machine. The jury awarded $3.38 million and assigned 18 percent liability to RTE for a net award of $608,745.

Case: Conklin v. RT Engineering

Case No.: 3:17-cv-415-39-JRK

Plaintiffs attorneys: Steven R. Browning and Keith Maynard; Spohrer & Dodd, Jacksonville

Defense attorneys: Rory Eric Jurman and Jesse D. Drawas, Fowler White Burnett, Fort Lauderdale

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