On March 13, 2014, an Essex County, New Jersey jury awarded $3.5 million to the estates of two men who died from inhalation of toxic fumes at a commercial laundry. The men had been instructed by their employer to clean a 15,000 gallon wastewater container at the worksite. The byproduct located in the container contained bleach, sulfuric acid and other toxins. The men had been in the container for three hours before their bodies were discovered. The jury awarded $1.6 million to one estate, and $1.9 million to the other, the discrepancy being that one worker had one child and the other had three children. In handing down the verdict, the jury accepted plaintiffs’ argument that the workers’ compensation bar should not preclude suit against the employer because the employer knew its workers faced a substantial certainty of serious injury or death in cleaning the container.
$3.5 Million Essex County Jury Verdict for Estates of Two Workers Killed by Toxic Fumes
