A$400,000

JUDGMENT

$400,OOOAwardIn·ElectrocutionMARTINEZ - The

widow and five children of aConcord man electrocutedon a construction job nearMoraga two and one-halfyears ago have been award-ed $400,000 in wrongfuldeath damages in ContraCosta Superior Court.A jury of seven men and

five women returned theverdict yesterday afternoonin favor of Mrs. Lois Gor-don and five minor childrenfollowing a three-week trialin the court of Judge MartinE. Rothenberg.The case had gone to the

jury shortly before 11 a.m.Thursday.The plaintiffs had sought

$750,000.James D. Gordon, 30, of

835 Mitchell Canyon Road,Concord, was killed April10, 1970, when the metalboom of a truck he was driv-ing came into contact with a12,000-volt overhead powerline.

Defendants found liablefor the $400,000 in damageswere the Clancy Construc-tion Co., Gordon Clancy andthe C&DInvestment Group,all of Castro Valley, andChallenge-Cook Brothers,Industrial City, Calif.At the time of his death,

Gordon, an employe of theSuperior Crane Service inConcord, was operating acement pumper manufac-tured by Challenge-Cook.The suit alleged the de-

fendants carelessly and neg-ligently failed to providesafe working conditions for.Gordon. .

Edward M. Digardi ofOakland, the plaintiff's at-torney, claimed the pumIferhad been built wltnou awarnmg devlCewhlCh couldhave alerted the operator asthe boom approached elec-trical WIres. Such a deVIcewas demonstrated durmgthe trial.

~IGAlAR'-~~ A Safety System By Construction Products Division,~l Bower Industries, Inc., Orange, California 92668

CONSTRUCTION J~

1601 WESTORANGEWOODAVENUE, P.O.BOX 1631ORANGE, CAL.IFORNIA 92668 U.S.A.PHONE (714) 633·8334-CABL.E "BOWERINDs"

Recently a widow and her five minor children were awarded$400,000 in a wrongful death action. The employee of a CraneService was electrocuted when the boom of his equipment camein contact with a 12,000 volt· overhead power line.

The defendants found liable for the $400,000 in damageswere the construction company, the owners of the project, andthe original equipment manufacturer.

The suit alleged the defendants carelessly and negligentlyfailed to provide safe working conditions. The plaintiff'sattorney claimed the boom equipment had been built without awarning device which could have alerted the operator as theboom approached electrical wires •

. It is becoming more apparent that safety systems for boomequipment can no longer be ignored in the 'constructionenvironment. In every study concerning safety in constructionthe "worst first" piece of equipment is boom type, and boomtype equipments greatest hazard is the overhead power lines.

Construction Products Division of Bower Industries, Inc.would like to present SIGALARM to you. SIGALARM is a reliableand stable power line monitoring safety system for use on boomoriented equipment. We are enclosing a SIGALARM descriptivebrochure for your information.

Every contact with an overhead power line is a potentialdeath - Let SIGALARM be the eyes and ears of your boom equipment.

4~Arthur C. Gregr ,,-Sigalarm Product Manager

PLAINTIFF'SEXHIBITq/

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