Family widens lawsuit over grate that hit car
- |
The family of a man permanently disabled when an iron storm grate dislodged and crashed through his windshield in 2007 has expanded a lawsuit to include companies that allegedly sold or manufactured equipment that was not intended to be used on state highways.
The amended lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that E.J. Prescott of Middleton sold risers to a state highway contractor, SPS New England, knowing that they were unfit for use on a highway project.
E.J. Prescott then failed to warn SPS that the risers were not meant to be used to elevate catch basin grates to the height of the highway surface in spots where they would be exposed to repeated impact by traffic, the suit contends. The suit also names the manufacturer of the risers, Quality Water Products of South Barre, as a third-party defendant.
The lawsuit charges negligence or breach of warranty against 11 companies that had a hand in installing, manufacturing, or selling the equipment that dislodged from Route 128 in July 2007.
Pawel Swierczynski, a North Easton engineer, was driving north in the middle lane of Route 128 in Westwood when a grate crashed through the windshield of his 2003
"Medically, he remains totally and permanently disabled," Norton said. The suit also raises problems with the catch basins and frames used at the project, saying that they did not meet state specifications and alleging that the manufacturer, Campbell Foundry Co. of Harrison, N.J., had not actually manufactured them, as represented to the state.
Instead, Campbell supplied catch basin frames and grates manufactured by Municipal Castings, of Madison, Minn. Paul Raymo, a part owner of Municipal Castings, said he could not comment on the case.
Campbell should have known that the items were unsafe for use in the travel lanes of a highway where cars and trucks would repeatedly drive over them, exposing them to repeated impacts, the suit says. Campbell could not be reached for comment.
The state is not a defendant in the case. Highway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky declined to speak to the lawsuit yesterday.
The accident on one of the state's busiest highways prompted inspections of the state's 86,000 storm grates and manholes.
