Clifford Law Offices Files Petition for Rehearing in Seventh Circuit’s Partial Reversal of $180 Million Jury Verdict

Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized firm that was just named one of the National Law Journal’s top 50 “Elite” plaintiffs’ firms in the country, filed a Petition for Rehearing in a case involving a record verdict for three downstate Illinois men who were severely injured in a grain bin explosion.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the portion of the $180 million verdict against the defendant ConAgra that was reached following a month-long trial in 2012.  In filing the Petition for Rehearing Sept. 22, Clifford Law Offices asked the court to reconsider its ruling that ConAgra owed no duty to the horribly injured plaintiffs according to well established Illinois premises liability law.  This is particularly the case given “that ConAgra actively caused the danger and continually interfered with West Side’s [second defendant] efforts to correct it,” according to the Petition.  The plaintiffs pointed out this is why the jury found ConAgra to be more than 50 percent liable for plaintiff’s injuries.  ConAgra appealed the verdict reached after 10 hours of jury deliberations in June, 2012.

“The Court’s decision is directly contrary to well-established Illinois law, and absolves ConAgra for recklessly interfering with the contractors it hired to deal with the problem,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of the firm.  “We felt we needed to file a Petition for Rehearing to point out the well established case law in this state that is not being given full consideration in this matter.”

The verdict still stands against defendant, West Side Salvage, Inc., a contractor from Atkins, Iowa, hired by ConAgra to salvage grain from a clogged elevator in Chester, Illinois, where the tragedy occurred.  The court also ruled that the punitive damage ruling against West Side for $1 million is reversed, which the Petition for Rehearing also addressed.  ConAgra is based in Omaha, Nebraska.  The case was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois.

The case involves workers in Chester who discovered smoke coming from a bin in March, 2010, but were unable to figure out the source.  West Side sent two workers into the smoking bin to clear a path for firefighters who had been called.  While inside the bin, an explosion occurred, severely burning the two workers and injuring a third man in the nearby elevator.

For further information, please contact Clifford Law Offices’ Communications Partner Pamela S. Menaker at 847-721-0909.