Sears Roebuck & Co. and others are being sued over claims their negligence caused three men to severely injure or lose a finger.
John Schrader, Ronald Nelson and Dale Northup filed separate lawsuits April 4 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Sears Roebuck & Co., Techtronic Industries North America Inc., One World Technologies Inc. and Ryobi Technologies Inc., citing strict product liability, negligence and breach of implied warranty of fitness.
According to the suit, all three men purchased Craftsman table saws. Schrader, of Pennsylvania, claims the saw caused him to suffer damage to his ring finger that required partial amputation. Nelson, of Missouri, alleges permanent damage to his thumb and Northup , of Wisconsin, contends he had to get part of his right thumb amputated.
They claim the defendants failed to utilize available safety technology in the table saws they make and sell, such as a riving knife, a better blade guard system or flesh detection technology, in order to protect customers.
The suits allege that as a result of the defendants' negligence in manufacturing the saw at issue, the hand the three plaintiffs were using to operate the saw got pushed back into the blade, resulting in their individual injuries.
They are each seeking damages in excess of $50,000 and court costs. They are being represented in their cases by Eric D. Pearson of Heygood, Orr & Pearson in Texas and F. John Cushing III of Cushing Law Offices in Chicago.
The case number for Schrader's suit is No. 2014L003863, Nelson's is No. 2014L003855 and Northup's is 2014L003862.
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Cook County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.