Farm Equipment Amputation and Crush Injury Lawyer in Kern County
Farm equipment amputation and crush injuries can often support more than just a workers’ compensation claim. When a tractor, auger, baler, or harvester causes a serious injury of any kind, the equipment manufacturer can be held liable under California product liability law if a defective design or a missing guard contributed to the injury.
A third-party product liability claim can recover damages that workers’ compensation does not, including full lost earnings and pain and suffering, and proceeds separately from any workers’ compensation claim or benefits. Chain | Cohn | Clark represents injured agricultural workers throughout Kern County in these and similar cases.
How Farm Equipment Causes Amputation and Crush Injuries
Most farm equipment amputations can be traced back to a small number of mechanisms. Each one points toward a specific question of liability.
Power Take-Off (PTO) Driveline Entanglement
The PTO shaft that transfers power from a tractor to an implement spins at 540 to 1,000 revolutions per minute – much faster than a person can pull away once clothing, hair, or a limb is caught. Entanglement in PTO drivelines is among the leading causes of farm deaths, and a large share of survivors sustain extremely serious injuries. Because entanglement injuries most often follow a guard that is missing, damaged, or removed, federal safety standards require these shafts to be guarded by a master shield and driveline shielding.
Augers and Grain or Feed Handling Equipment
The rotating flighting inside an auger can cause an amputation before the operator is able to react, particularly when a worker reaches in to clear a jam without shutting the equipment down.
Balers, Harvesters, and Forage Choppers
Feed and compression mechanisms draw material in with force, and can cause serious crushing injuries and amputations.
Rollovers and Pinch Points
A tractor rollover, or a limb caught between moving components or between equipment and a fixed structure, produces crush injuries that can require surgical amputation. Rollover protective structures are required on tractors manufactured after October 1976, and their absence or failure is a recurring factor in these cases.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a Farm Equipment Amputation
Liability in a farm equipment case frequently extends beyond the employer, and identifying every responsible party is what separates a workers’ compensation claim from a full recovery.
The Equipment Manufacturer
Product liability claims in California are governed by a standard of strict liability. Under that standard, an injured person does not need to prove that the manufacturer was negligent – rather, they only need to prove that the equipment itself was defective and that the defect caused their injury.
California law recognizes three types of defect: a manufacturing defect, where a unit departs from its intended design; a design defect, where the design itself is unreasonably unsafe; and a failure to warn, where the product lacks adequate instructions or warnings about a non-obvious hazard. A machine sold without an adequate guard, or designed so that a guard must be removed to operate or service it, is commonly analyzed as a design defect.
There are two commonly administered tests in California to determine the existence of a design defect: whether the equipment performed as safely as an ordinary user would expect, and whether the benefits of the design outweigh its risks. Under the second test, once the injured person shows the design caused their injury, the manufacturer is responsible for showing that the benefits of its design outweigh the risks.
The Employer, Through Workers’ Compensation
For most on-the-job injuries, workers’ compensation is an employee’s exclusive legal remedy against their employer. The injured worker receives medical care and disability benefits regardless of fault, but generally cannot sue the employer directly for things like pain and suffering. Workers’ compensation does not, however, bar a claim against a manufacturer or other third party.
Farm Labor Contractors and Other Worksite Parties
Depending on how a job is structured, a farm labor contractor or another party on the worksite may bear responsibility for unsafe equipment that workers were required to use. Whether a particular party can be held liable depends on the specific relationships and facts, which is one reason these cases benefit from early investigation by an experienced attorney.
Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for Injured Farm Workers
Workers’ compensation is designed as the sole remedy against a direct employer, and it facilitates quick coverage for predetermined things like medical treatment and partial wage replacement. What it does not provide, however, is compensation for pain and suffering, or for the full value of lost earnings and future earning capacity. A third-party claim, on the other hand – most often a product liability claim against the equipment manufacturer – proceeds alongside a workers’ compensation claim and can reach those categories of loss. These two claims are not mutually exclusive.
Immigration status does not change these rights. California law extends workers’ compensation and personal injury protections to all workers regardless of immigration status, and in a civil personal injury action, a person’s immigration status is not admissible as evidence. It is also unlawful for an employer to retaliate against a worker, or to threaten a worker’s immigration status, for reporting an injury or filing a claim.
Compensation in Farm Equipment Amputation Cases
The damages in an amputation or serious crush injury case are easy to underestimate, because the largest costs arrive over a lifetime rather than at the moment of injury. Compensation in these cases can include:
- Medical and surgical care, including the initial emergency treatment, reconstructive surgery, and hospitalization
- Prosthetic devices and their lifetime cost. A prosthesis, for example, is not a one-time expense; it is fitted, maintained, and replaced repeatedly over the years, and advanced devices carry substantial recurring costs
- Future medical care and rehabilitation, including physical and occupational therapy and ongoing treatment for related complications
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity, which account not only for time missed but for the effect of a permanent injury on the kind of work a person can do going forward
- Pain, suffering, and permanent disfigurement
- Home and vehicle modifications where a permanent injury requires them
Because these losses compound over decades, attorneys often work with life-care planners and economists to document the full future cost. The value of a claim depends on the specific injury, the care it will require, and the losses it causes.
How Chain | Cohn | Clark Investigates Farm Equipment Injury Cases
A very important piece of evidence in a farm equipment injury claim is often the farm equipment itself, which can be difficult to preserve or retrieve if the equipment is repaired or returned to service.
The single most important step is to preserve the equipment. An attorney can make sure this is done correctly. The machine, its guards or the place where a guard should have been, and its maintenance and inspection records are central evidence in cases like these; they should not be repaired, altered, returned to a dealer, or scrapped before they can be examined. From there, an attorney can identify the manufacturer and model, document whether required guards were present, removed, or defective, retain engineering experts to evaluate the design, and gather photographs, witness accounts, and the worker’s medical records. Building this record early can help build a much stronger claim against a manufacturer or other third party.
$22.1
million
Pedestrian Accident
$15
million
Products Liability Explosion
$11
million
Premises Liability
$10
million
Oilfield Accident
$10
million
Motorcycle Accident
$9
million
Industrial Accident
$8.8
million
Police Misconduct
$8
million
Pedestrian Accident
Why Injured Workers Across Kern County Choose Chain | Cohn | Clark
Since 1934, Chain | Cohn | Clark has represented injured workers and families throughout Kern County and the Central Valley. We’re very familiar with the region’s agricultural industry and the equipment involved, and we regularly litigate both workers’ compensation claims and third-party cases, recovering substantial compensation for injured people across the Valley. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Farm Equipment Injuries
Potentially, yes. If a defect in the equipment caused your injury – a missing or inadequate guard, for example, a design that invites contact with the driveline, or inadequate warnings – you may have a viable product liability claim against the manufacturer or another third party. This claim is separate from workers’ compensation.
Yes. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer, but it does not prevent you from filing a claim against a third party such as the equipment manufacturer. A third-party claim can recover damages that workers’ compensation does not, including full lost earnings and compensation for pain and suffering.
Yes. California law extends both workers’ compensation and personal injury rights to all workers regardless of immigration status. In a civil personal injury case, your immigration status is not admissible as evidence, and it is illegal for an employer to retaliate against you or threaten your status for filing a claim.
There is no single average, because the value depends on the specific injury and the losses it may cause over a lifetime. Attorneys often use a life-care plan to document these future costs.
Deadlines in these cases are strict and time-sensitive, and different claims have different deadlines. Because the applicable deadline depends on the parties involved and can be shorter in some situations, it is important to speak with an attorney promptly.
Contact a Kern County Farm Equipment Injury Lawyer
If you or a family member suffered an amputation or crush injury from farm equipment in Kern County, contact Chain | Cohn | Clark for a free consultation.
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