Alabama Supreme Court overturns $3M judgment in worker’s death
- May 27, 2025
- Posted by: Web workers
- Category: Workers Comp
The Alabama Supreme Court Thursday overturned a $3 million judgment for the spouse of a worker who died after becoming trapped in machinery.
Catalina Estillado died of blunt force injuries in 2017 after she became caught in machine rollers while working at ABC Polymer Industries LLC in Helena.
Her husband, Crescencio Pablo, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two of his wife’s coworkers – Dean Leader and William Durall. The lawsuit, which also named ABC Polymer, alleged the coworkers caused the fatal incident by removing a machine guard.
The judge overseeing the bench trial entered a joint and several punitive damages judgment against Mr. Leader and Mr. Durall for $3 million.
Mr. Leader and Mr. Durall appealed the judgment. Mr. Leader sought dismissal because of a pending bankruptcy, and Mr. Durall argued Mr. Pablo failed to present sufficient evidence at trial.
The judgment against Mr. Leader was discharged in bankruptcy.
The state Supreme Court, in overturning the judgment against Mr. Durall, said there wasn’t enough evidence in the case for the trial judge to find Mr. Durall purposefully removed machine safety guarding.
“There is nothing indicating that Durall willfully or intentionally failed to install a safety device,” the high court wrote.
