Heavy Equipment

Laas v. Caterpillar:
The amounts paid in settlement of this case are subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

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WARNING: Very Graphic - view with discernment. This video is a reconstruction showing what happens when "Inadvertent Actuation" occurs while standing in the pinch point of a backhoe.

This case involves a young man in his twenties who was violently crushed to death by an excavation boom of a defective and dangerous Backhoe Loader Model 416C. On the day of the incident, the operator of the Caterpillar Backhoe was driving/transporting the machine to an overnight staging area used to secure all the construction equipment. The deceased, while driving a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, approached the operator of the Caterpillar Backhoe and requested the operator to transport a jackhammer case to said staging area. The operator of the Caterpillar Backhoe stopped the machine with the stabilizer legs upright, and instructed the deceased to load the jackhammer case into the rear portion of the cab in the Backhoe. As the deceased laid the jackhammer case onto the platform floor in the rear opening/entry of the Backhoe cab, the jackhammer case contacted and inadvertently actuated the foot pedal that hydraulically controls the left/right swing of the backhoe boom. The inadvertent actuation of the foot pedal caused the backhoe boom to violently swing with tremendous force directly into the deceased, horrifically crushing his body between the backhoe boom and the stabilizer leg.

Caterpillar deviated from its standard equipment by offering the dangerous foot pedal system that imitates the pedal system equipped in the “Case” brand of backhoes manufactured by a competitor, Case Corporation. The “Case” foot pedal design has long been known by Caterpillar, and the industry, to be flawed and extremely dangerous due to inadvertent actuation accidents which have resulted in deaths and serious injuries. It is believed that over the years, there have been hundreds of serious injury and death incidents reported which were caused by inadvertent actuation of both the foot pedal system as well as the hand-control levers. The amounts paid in settlement in all of our backhoe cases are confidential and are subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

Martin v. Caterpillar:

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In 2002, Plaintiff was crushed and injured by the boom of a defective Caterpillar Backhoe Loader Model 416C. The CAT Backhoe, owned by a Construction Company, was being used in connection with a project near Buckeye Road, Arizona. Plaintiff was employed as a laborer by the Construction Company. During the job in 2002 Plaintiff and a co-worker (who was the operator of the CAT Backhoe) were collecting traffic cones and cleaning up in the vicinity of an asphalt patching site. In this process, the CAT Backhoe was being moved by the co-worker from one spot to another. The backhoe boom was not in use and it was locked in the upright position as were the outriggers. During the clean-up, the co-worker had laid a broom onto the floor of the cab. The co-worker had also dismounted from the backhoe and parked it with the engine idling, intending to once again move the backhoe after briefly picking up items on the ground. While the co-worker backhoe operator was outside the cab standing on the ground, Plaintiff reached into the rear opening of the CAT Backhoe cab on the right-hand side of the boom, intending to lay a stack of three or four cones onto the floor of the cab.

At that instance, the cones rested on top of or against the broom handle which, in turn, pressed against and inadvertently actuated the right foot pedal (known as “Case Controls”) that hydraulically operates the right swing of the backhoe boom causing the boom to unexpectedly engage and swing into Plaintiff while he was standing in between the right side of the boom and the cab/outrigger, pinning and crushing his body (see photos of cones). When the Case Control was inadvertently actuated, there was no warning and the boom swung instantly and in rapid motion crushing Plaintiff in barely more than one second of time giving him no chance to react and respond. As a result, Plaintiff sustained excruciating, serious, and permanent injuries. At all times, Plaintiff was exercising reasonable care and caution for his own safety and welfare. Plaintiff was not a backhoe operator and he was unfamiliar with the specifics of the boom controls.

The case is still ongoing -monitor website for future updates.

Hilliker v. Caterpillar:

In 2003 Decedent was in the course and scope and his employment with a contracting construction company which had been subcontracted to complete a water main rehabilitation project in Florida. While the crew was in the process of removing the old water line and preparing for grouting Decedent was asked to retrieve a plastic pipe from the storage yard for insertion at the end of the water main plug. Decedent drove the CAT backhoe to the storage area which was located approximately three (3) blocks from the job site. While running the plastic pipe through the cab of the CAT backhoe, the pipe inadvertently came in direct contact with the boom swing pilot control, causing the backhoe boom to violently swing to the left. That sudden, unexpected movement of the boom crushed Decedent with tremendous force against one of the upright stabilizers of the subject CAT backhoe. When the boom swing control was inadvertently actuated, there was no warning and the boom swung instantly and in rapid motion, crushing Decedent in barely more than one second of time, giving him no chance to react and respond.

The subject CAT backhoe was also designed with a transport pin that Caterpillar purports to call a boom locking pin and/or “swing lock pin control.” The pin is approximately three (3) inches in diameter and ten (10) inches long. It looks like a hefty steel rod. The pin has a loop on top of it. The pin is intended to be stored in a storage bracket near the boom pinch point, just below the cab. However, the pin has the tendency to become lost in the working environment or stored away from the machine in a tool box or other locations. The pin is extremely difficult to use and is time consuming to insert because in order to use it, the boom and its housing have to be perfectly lined up for the pin to be inserted through the holes cut in both the boom and the housing below. If the boom is slightly misaligned due to ordinary wear and tear or because the boom is positioned left or right of center, or if the holes are filled with grease, dirt, and crud, the pin will not easily fit into the hole, and thus, the user is forced to dismount from the machine and stand in the pinch point area (with the machine turned on) in order to force the pin into the hole and then typically, reenter the cab and toggle the pedals to align the boom and then repeat the process of trying to insert the pin. Due to the shortcomings of the pin, its difficulty in use, lack of clear instructions to the user, its impracticability in the field, and its overall slipshod defective design, this so-called locking system has been the subject of numerous patents and improvements over the past thirty (30) years, all of which have been ignored by Caterpillar despite numerous and repeated deaths, injuries, complaints, and lawsuits against themselves and against its competitors.

The case is still ongoing- Monitor website for future updates.

Weems v. John Deere:

In 2003, Plaintiffs’ decedent was violently crushed and fatally injured by the unexpected swinging excavation boom of a defective and dangerous Deere Backhoe Loader Model 310C. During a job in 2003 decedent was in the presence of the Deere Backhoe using a small, handheld concrete saw on a jobsite. The Deere backhoe was not being used for digging, loading, or roading, and it was not being transported. The Deere backhoe was simply stopped and idling. The right boom swing pedal (a/k/a “Case Control”) was inadvertently actuated when Decedent laid the concrete saw onto the unguarded pedal, intending instead to place the saw on the cab floor. The inadvertent actuation of the Case Control caused the excavation boom to unexpectedly swing instantly to the right while Decedent was standing in between the boom and the rear frame of the backhoe cab reaching into the rear of the cab. Decedent was instantly trapped and crushed in the boom swing crush zone.

This defective and unreasonably dangerous Deere Backhoe had foot pedals to control the left/right swing of the backhoe boom. By depressing the left pedal the boom swings left and by depressing the right pedal the boom swings right. They work like a teeter-totter in that the right pedal goes up when the left pedal is depressed and visa versa. The foot pedal system is not standard equipment on Deere backhoes to operate the left/right swing of the boom. Instead, as standard equipment, Deere equips its backhoes with hand levers to operate the left/right swing of the boom. Deere deviated from its standard equipment by offering the foot pedal boom swing system that imitates the foot pedal system equipped in the “Case” brand of backhoes manufactured by a competitor, Case Corporation (now known as Case New Holland or CNH Global).

The “Case” foot pedal design (a.k.a. “Case Controls”) has long been known in the industry to be flawed and extremely dangerous due to numerous inadvertent actuation accidents which have resulted in possibly hundreds of deaths and serious injuries over the prior 35 years.