WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – A Delaware court has denied a motion by Japanese company Hitachi to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a construction worker who was injured while operating a nail gun it manufactured.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Sheldon Rennie issued a 21-page ruling on Feb. 5 denying a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Eduardo Diaz Cardona and Wendy Cardona against Hitachi Koki Co. LTD, Hitachi Koki USA LTD and Schell Bros. LLC.
The court denied Hitachi's motion to dismiss based on lack of personal jurisdiction.
Eduardo Diaz Cardona sued Hitachi and contractor Schell Bros. over several counts of wrongdoing regarding an allegedly faulty nail gun that injured him while working on a construction site. Although he was an employee of subcontractor MDI Contractors LLC, Schell Bros. was the general contractor in the Osprey Landing project in Sussex County, Delaware.
As stated in the ruling, "on Sept. 26, 2013, while working at Osprey Landing, plaintiff used a Hitachi NV83A3 nail gun, and the nail gun allegedly malfunctioned, ejected a nail directly into plaintiff's eye, and caused him permanent injuries."
The plaintiff filed the suit on Sept. 24, 2015, against the three defendants over claims of negligence, breach of express and implied warranties, and breach of many consumer protection laws.
Hitachi filed a motion to dismiss the case, but it was denied.
Another motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was filed on Sept. 28, 2017. A special master was appointed by the court to analyze the case, and it concluded that "the court has personal jurisdiction over HKK," the ruling states.
In his ruling, Rennie stated that "jurisdiction is conferred by Delaware's long-arm statute, and does not violate HKK's due process rights," adding that "there is no argument that any other state in the U.S. would provide a more effective and efficient forum, or have a stronger interest, in the resolution of the current matter."
Delaware Superior Court case number N15C-09-210 SKR