Under the lease agreement. Defendant Maryland Clarklift had responsibility for maintenance inspection and repair of the subject forklift. Plaintiff stood on the blades of the forklift while a fellow worker raised it to a height of 10 feet. While the blades were being lowered with the plaintiff on them, the blades hung up then suddenly dropped without warning, sending the plaintiff crashing to the pavement, landing on his head. Defendants claimed that the plaintiff was contributory negligent for riding on the fork blades, ignoring the standard international warning signs on the forklift not to stand on the blades, and failing to use a personnel carrier with side rails that his employer made available.
Contributory negligence is a complete bar to recovery in Maryland.
Plaintiff sustained a right skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, left hemisphere contusion and underwent a partial frontal lobectomy. But by the time of trial, client had returned to work full time as a custodian in a supermarket. The build-up, in Mr. Holt's expert opinion, was likely caused by the defendants negligent maintenance and repair of the forklift. The case was made difficult because the subject forklift was no longer available for inspection and the broken wheel found in the rails during a post accident inspection was lost. The defendant did have a videotape of the safe operation of the forklift.