Attorney Ray Dearie and Attorney Drew Lombardi reached a pre-trial $6 million insurance policy limits settlement with a local meat processing company, on behalf of one of the company’s floor workers.
The case stemmed from a 2024 incident, where Dearie Law Group’s client attempted to help a co-worker clear a jammed industrial meat grinder. Prior to the incident, a safety switch on the meat grinder had been bypassed by the company’s machine technician, allowing it to operate immediately once a jam was cleared. Once Dearie Law Group’s client cleared the jam, the meat grinder pulled his hand into the blades, leading to finger amputations.
Ray Dearie and Drew Lombardi argued that the meat grinder should have been taken out of operation, rather than placed back onto the floor with a bypassed safety switch. The Defendant meat processing company argued that it was immune from the lawsuit under Washington’s Title 51 workers compensation immunity, and that Dearie Law Group’s client was at-fault for his own injuries.