Wischer v. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America9/30/2003
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The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois $2,000,000
Royal Insurance Company of America $5,000,000
Indemnity Insurance Company of North America $20,000,000
Federal Insurance Company $50,000,000
The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois $25,000,000
The Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company $2,000,000 in separate coverage for MHIA, attaches at $75,000,000.
. The parties entered into three settlement agreements. The first two were entered into before trial and involved the payment of $2,000,000 (Travelers) and $5,000,000 (Royal) to the plaintiffs. The third settlement is known as the IINA agreement, which was entered into during trial on November 7, 2000. Under the IINA settlement, the plaintiffs entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi, its parent company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries LTD, and Indemnity Insurance Company of North America (IINA). The agreement provided for an immediate payment of $12,375,000, which would be credited against any compensatory damages awarded by the jury. The IINA agreement then capped punitive damages at $84,626,000 if it was later determined that Mitsubishi had insurance coverage, and $10,000,000 if Mitsubishi did not have insurance coverage.
. The IINA agreement was not disclosed to the trial court or any other party until one month after the jury reached its verdict. The jury returned a compensatory damage verdict of $5,250,000 and a punitive damage award of $94,000,000 against Mitsubishi.
The Day of the Lift
. At 7:30 a.m. on July 14, 1999, several people participated in a pre-lift meeting at Miller Park. At that meeting, Victor Grotlisch, Mitsubishi's site manager, discussed the weather report, Allen Watts, the Lampson supervisor, discussed how the lift would occur, and Wayne Noel, Mitsubishi's safety supervisor, discussed safety issues involved in the lift, including rescue, radio communication, and responsibilities. At this meeting, Noel told the workers that anyone could stop the lift for any reason at any time if it was unsafe to continue.
. While Mitsubishi stresses the importance of this statement because the lift requires people at different locations watching the lift from different angles, the plaintiffs claim that the workers are in no position to tell supervisors to stop a lift because the workers, having families to support, do not want to risk their jobs.
. At about 10 a.m., Big Blue picked the roof piece off of the ground and crews checked the load stabilization and center of gravity. By 11:00 or 11:30 a.m., Grotlisch, Watts, and a DCCI representative agreed that the lift could proceed. Watts, Lampson's supervisor, was then in charge of the lift.
. Later in the afternoon, Grotlisch checked the wind speeds and was informed by Watts that the lift was going fine. Wischer, DeGrave and Starr entered the man basket and were lifted so that they could bolt the roof into place. As the roof was being lifted, there was a squeal of brakes and a loud snap. Big Blue toppled and struck the boom of the crane holding the ironworkers. Wischer, DeGrave and Starr fell to an instant death.
Procedural History
. On August 12, 1999, plaintiffs, the wives of the decedents, filed a lawsuit charging the general-contractor joint venture, Mitsubishi, Lampson International, and Neil F. Lampson with negligence, seeking compensatory and punitive damages. On September 15, 2000, based on a settlement, the court dismissed the general-contractor joint venture from the lawsuit. On October 16, 2000, the case went to trial. During trial, the parties disagreed on the interpretation of Wisconsin's
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