Appeal of $6 Million Welding Rod Award Filed

Linde LLC, one of the defendants in a case in which a jury awarded nearly $6 million to welder Curtis Cooley for neurological damage from manganese exposure, filed an appeal April 5 (Cooley v. Lincoln Electric Co.). This case is part of the multi-district litigation involving welding rod manufacturers. On March 7, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. O’Malley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that the ratio of more than 6 to 1 between punitive and compensatory damages in the award is not excessive (41 OSHR 239, 3/17/11). Linde’s principal ...