Pain and Suffering Question May Go to Jury Based on Expert Testimony on Asphyxiation

A plaintiff’s expert provided sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on whether a chemical plant worker was conscious long enough to experience pain before dying of asphyxiation after nitrogen leaked into the plant where he worked, a federal trial court in Kentucky held April 4 (Faulkner v. ABB Inc., W.D. Ky., No. 5:08-CV-212).

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, in an opinion by Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, found that a reasonable jury could conclude that the worker suffered enough before dying to warrant damages for pre-death pain and suffering. The worker’s widow sought ...