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FKI Industries
Corr Cronin obtained summary judgment on behalf of FKI Industries and The Crosby Group in federal court in Seattle. The plaintiff, Mr. Aiello received severe head injuries and lost an eye when unloading his tractor trailer, allegedly due to a load binder opening with great force and striking him. Due to the accident, it was predicted that he would never be able to work again and would have continuing medical problems for the remainder of his life. Projected damages were in the millions. Unable to identify the particular load binder alleged to have struck Mr. Aiello, his guardian brought claims against five different manufacturers of load binders seeking to hold them liable for product defects and failure to issue warning under novel claims for "market-share alternate strict liability" and "alternate liability negligence." Plaintiff sought to hold an entire industry liable unless individual manufacturers could prove that their product was not involved in the accident. Leading the defendants' group, Corr Cronin first obtained dismissal of plaintiffs' market share alternate strict liability claim, with the court holding that the doctrine, which had previously been applied only in DES cases, could not be extended to circumstances where the product was not fungible. After additional discovery, with Corr Cronin again taking the lead on all briefing and oral argument, the court granted summary judgment in favor of all of the load binder manufacturers. As a result, all claims were dismissed against all defendants.
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