NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - The estate of a man who attempted to repair a car lift and was crushed in a gruesome manner has filed suit against its manufacturer.
Soudavone Vilayvanh, as administrator of the Estate of Robert Smith, filed a lawsuit Dec. 20 in New York County Supreme Court against Lewistown Manufacturer over an incident that occurred nearly two years earlier.
Smith was summoned to fix a bent lower lift bar at a parking structure on 110th Street in New York City. The lift was capable of storing up to four motor vehicles at once and featured a hydraulic cylinder, steel cables and bars.
Those bars were manufactured by Lewistown, a Pennsylvania company. The front passenger middle lift bar fell off the middle platform while Smith was attempting his repairs, and the lift fell on him. His cause of death was blunt force injuries of his torso with mechanical asphyxia.
His family is suing for negligence, manufacturing defect and wrongful death, among other claims. Matthew Maiorana of Queller Fisher is their lawyer.