A Texas man who filed a personal injury lawsuit against Asphalt Zipper, Inc. alleging he nearly lost his foot after a defectively designed water supply system fell on him has reportedly been awarded a $4 million jury verdict.

Plaintiff Chuck Pruitt alleged that he was working for the county road and bridge department when a water system component fell on his left leg. According to the complaint, Asphalt Zipper manufactured the water system, as well as the machine that the water system was connected to at the time. Pruitt accused the company of defective design of the water system component, as well as failing to warn him and other users about the safe use and storage of the machine.

“The Asphalt Zipper machine, which is designed, manufactured and sold by Defendant Asphalt Zipper, Inc., can be attached to the bucket of a front-end loader. The Asphalt Zipper machine is used to pulverize and ‘reclaim’ asphalt for street patches, full road repairs, base stabilization and for opening utility trenches in asphalt, among other uses,” explained Pruitt in his lawsuit.

The water system that fell on Pruitt consisted of two parts, according to the complaint, an adapter plate and tank assembly. It allegedly weighed 200 pounds when empty.

“The subject Water System component that injured Plaintiff was not in use at the time of the incident and was instead being stored by Plaintiff’s employer,” noted the lawsuit. “When being stored, the Water System component is held up by three legs: one leg on the back of the Water System component and one leg on either side of the Water System component.”

Pruitt contended that the water system component was stored incorrectly due to a defect that resulted in it falling over on his left leg. According to the complaint, the legs of the water system can be adjusted using pins. The pins should hold the legs of the machine tightly in place; however, the plaintiff said that the water system component fell because it was held with a misshapen pin. As a result, the equipment leg was unstable and allowed the center of gravity of the device to lurch forward.

“The fact that the Water System component was empty at the time of the incident…also contributed to the instability of the Water System component, as the additional weight when full would shift the center of gravity so that the Water System component might not have fallen and injured Plaintiff,” stated the complaint.

Further, the company allegedly failed to provide warnings or instructions with the water system component regarding proper storage.

Law360 reports that the plaintiff was unable to return to his job at the county road and bridge department since the accident.

Plaintiff Alleges Defective Design

The lawsuit accused the company of defectively designing and manufacturing the water system component. The plaintiff pointed to the misshapen pin as evidence that the company did not properly manufacture the machine. In addition, the plaintiff contended that the water storage component could have a safer design that was less prone to topple over while not in use.

According to the complaint, “the Water System component was designed in a way that rendered it more unstable when stored empty than if it were stored full. The instability caused by the design of the Water System component proximately caused Plaintiff’s injuries…Defendant could have designed the Water System component to take into account the difference in the Water System component’s center of gravity when stored empty or full.”

The plaintiff also pointed out that the water system component could have been designed with four legs instead of three to further improve stability.

According to Law360, a Waco jury found that there was a design defect in the machine. It awarded the plaintiff damages for loss of future earnings, medical expenses, physical pains, mental anguish, and physical impairment.

The Personal Injury Lawsuit is Chuck P. v. Asphalt Zipper, Case No. 6:18-cv-00324, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.