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Coughlin Midlige & Garland Wins Summary Judgment in a Products Liability Lawsuit in Federal Court

Coughlin Midlige & Garland was recently awarded summary judgment in favor of its client, Crown Equipment Corporation (“Crown”), in McManus v. Barnegat Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, et. al (Civil Action No. 15-2109), a lawsuit venued in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

In that case, plaintiff, a delivery man, sued Crown claiming that he was injured as a result of an allegedly defective pallet jack which he had been operating on an incline while making deliveries to a nursing center. Crown, as the manufacturer of the pallet jack, moved for summary judgment on the basis that plaintiff could neither provide a specific cause of the alleged defect, nor could he establish that the incident was not solely the result of an alleged malfunction. In a written opinion dated May 29, 2018, the Court concluded that plaintiff’s failure to negate causes of the accident, other than an alleged product defect, entitled Crown to judgment as a matter of law. 

To read the Opinion, please click here.