Hayes+Associates, Inc, Analysis of On the Job Injury Contributed to $910,000 Jury Verdict

When an employee is injured on the job, both the employer and the injured party have a vested interest in establishing who was at fault. Scientifically reliable analysis and incident reconstruction can help establish the dynamics of injury and provide useful information on who was at fault.

In 2006, Donald Harrington, age 47, as an employee of Basic Fire Protection, was conducting service maintenance, re-installing sprinkler heads at Far West Fibers, a recycling processor plant, in Hillsboro, OR (currently known as Far West Recycling).

As he worked, Harrington fell through a hole in a catwalk which was covered by 15/32” plywood and concealed by a black rubber floor mat.  Harrington stepped with his left foot down onto the mat from a conveyor three feet above the catwalk. His right foot was following when the plywood broke and Harrington fell through the hole fifteen feet to the cement floor below.  He landed on his right leg.

Medical evaluation revealed a fracture/dislocation of Harrington’s right ankle.  Treatment involved the placement of five pins on the day of the injury and a second surgery about two weeks later. 

One year after the incident, Harrington was diagnosed with several permanent impairments resulting directly from the incident, including nerve damage, loss of collateral circulation to foot and ankle, and loss of full range of ankle motion.

Subsequently, Harrington sought representation by Ireland Costello, PC, Forest Grove, OR (now Ireland & Ireland, PC) (https://www.irelandpc.com). 

The firm retained Hayes+Associates, Inc, to examine the scene and reconstruct the fall. An H+A team used Tekscan (tekscan.com) FMR-1 pressure sensitive shoe inserts to measure the peak forces on the foot when stepping down from a three-foot height.  In addition, basic materials science was used to predict the strength of the plywood. The team also reviewed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards for load-carrying capacity of walkways and found that the plywood covering the hole did not meet OSHA requirements.  

The H+A report concluded that a steel plate over the hole would have prevented the fall and that Harrington’s injuries were the direct result of the substandard hole covering.

H+A CEO Wilson C. “Toby” Hayes testified to that effect in a trial in Washington County, Oregon. The jury subsequently found Far West Fibers 65% at fault and the Plaintiff 35% at fault.  Mr. Harrington was awarded $910,000 in damages.

Hayes+Associates, Inc. (http://www.hayesassoc.com) is an expert witness and consulting firm, based in Corvallis, OR. The company brings more than 75 years of collective experience in academic research, university teaching and forensic testimony to practice areas that include vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, Testimony Pivotal in Coos County, OR, Domestic Assault Conviction

The guilty verdict in a trial of a man accused of assaulting his girlfriend with a deadly weapon was credited largely to biomechanics testimony by Wilson C. “Toby” Hayes, PhD, president of Hayes+Associates, Inc, of Corvallis.

Rich Conn of Coquille, OR, was charged with assaulting Anne Bollinger, his live-in partner, leaving her in a persistently vegetative state that will likely be permanent. The couple were living together when Bollinger sustained a skull fracture that left her with tetraplegia and no means of communicating. Conn claimed he did not know what happened to Bollinger, and assumed she might have fallen down the stairs at their home. Conn testified he did not know the extent of her injuries, and allowed her to remain on a couch for seven hours before calling for an ambulance. Responders stated they were immediately suspicious of Conn’s story when they arrived to find Bollinger in critical condition.

As a witness for the prosecution, led by R. Paul Frasier, Coos County District Attorney, Dr. Hayes testified that he and his associate, Ellen L. Lee, MS, found no indication in analyzing the case that a fall could have produced the injuries Bollinger sustained to the upper back of her skull. The depression there, a third of an inch deep, and the resulting extensive brain bleeding she experienced, could have been caused only by a blunt instrument, such as a heavy frying pan, Dr. Hayes said. An expert for the defense, Dr. Richard Reimann, attempted to refute evidence that Bollinger’s injuries could not have resulted from a fall down the stairs.

Frasier believed Dr. Hayes’ impressive credentials and his injury analysis based on physics and biomechanics was the state’s best shot at securing the jury’s guilty verdict. "Dr. Hayes came across very well,” Frasier said. “Basically, I think the jury needed to decide if they believed Dr. Hayes or not, and if they didn't, there was no case." Frasier focused on the defendant’s inconsistencies in describing what had happened, his delay in calling for medical assistance, and on Dr. Hayes’ testimony. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, (http://www.hayesassoc.com) is an expert witness and consulting firm, based in Corvallis, OR. The company brings more than 75 years of collective experience in academic research, university teaching and forensic testimony to practice areas that include vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, Testimony Contributes to Plaintiff Verdict in Construction Site Trip and Fall Case

Failure to adhere to globally recognized construction site safety protocols, codes and regulations can put workers at risk of falls and serious injury. 

In August 2009, Nathan Clark, a 29-year-old security guard for Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, was directing first responders to a shipping/receiving area crime scene to tend a woman who had been stabbed.  Mr. Clark tripped over raised metal plates that were covering an underground construction site and had been baking in the hot sun for hours.  The plates were placed there by Pacific Rim Mechanical Contractors, Inc, in such a way as to create an overhanging lip as much as 2” in height.  In some areas, the plate edges were surrounded by sloped berms, as per ASTM safety standards—(ASTM International is a worldwide standards organization that publishes safety guidelines for a wide range of systems and services)—but the area where Mr. Clark tripped had no berm. 

As he attempted to recover from his trip and arrest his fall, Mr. Clark “felt something break in his hip.” He fell to the ground, suffering first and second degree burns on his left side from the hot metal plate.  Examination revealed sciatic nerve injury, and a serious fracture to his right hip.

Mr. Clark sought representation by Mr. Ljubisa "LJ" Kostic  of Estey Bomberger LLP, San Diego, (https://www.ebtrialattorneys.com/). Subsequently, the firm retained Hayes+Associates, Inc, to perform a biomechanical reconstruction of the incident.

A team at H+A analyzed Mr. Clark’s fall based on measurements at the site, ASTM standards, and established dynamics of the tripping human form.

As per ASTM protocols, changes in level greater than 1⁄2” must be protected by means of properly sloped transition such as a berm.

The Pacific Rim Mechanical construction documents also indicated that the plates should be surrounded by a berm. Thus, the scene of Mr. Clark’s fall did not even conform to Pacific Rim’s own design plans.

The H+A report concluded that a sloped ramp or berm leading to the edge of the cover plate would have prevented the incident and that the trip hazard created by the unsecured raised cover plates was the direct cause of Mr. Clark’s fall.

Wilson C. “Toby” Hayes, PhD, testified to this effect at trial and the jury found for Mr. Clark, awarding him damages in an amount that was not disclosed. 

Hayes+Associates, Inc. (http://www.hayesassoc.com) is an expert witness and consulting firm, based in Corvallis, OR. The company brings more than 75 years of collective experience in academic research, university teaching and forensic testimony to practice areas that include vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, Biomechanical Analysis of Severe Trampoline Injury Comports with Recent CBS News Segment on Dangers of Trampoline Parks

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trampoline-parks-jump-in-popularity-but-expert-warns-of-catastrophic-injuries/

A May 2019 CBS special report on the dangers of Trampoline Parks illuminates trampoline safety issues central to a 2015 lawsuit for which Hayes+Associates, Inc, was retained to provide biomechanical analysis.

The CBS report covers the rapid increase in US Trampoline Parks (from 40 in 2011 to over 800 in 2019) and the precipitous rise in injuries associated with the venues (2,500 reported in 2013 and 17,800 in 2017, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission). CBS further reports at least six Trampoline Park deaths in seven years.

CBS interviewed Don McPherson, a nationally recognized gymnastics coach who has provided expert testimony in over 200 Trampoline injury lawsuits since 2011: "The cardinal rule of trampolining is that there should only be one person on a trampoline at a time,” McPherson asserts. He lists some of the injuries he has encountered in his role as expert witness: “..broken necks, broken backs, dislocated and open fracture elbows and shoulders…all catastrophic injuries.”

The 2015 lawsuit for which Hayes+Associates, Inc, was retained as expert witness involved the hazards of multiple jumpers at a local facility of Sky High Sports in Bellevue, WA.  In 2009, Tyler Duringer, age 17, was descending after bouncing off an angled wall at Sky High Sports when a little girl came into his path of travel.  As he was trying to avoid the girl, he hit the trampoline wrong and heard his left leg snap. He testified later that he experienced the feeling of being doubled-jumped or double-bounced, as if the trampoline mat was coming up as he was going down. Tyler suffered an open fracture to both bones above his left ankle.

Tyler was represented by Simeon Osborn of Osborn Machler, PLLC, Seattle, WA (osbornmachler.com), a firm that has been involved in several Bellevue Sky High Sports cases.  The firm retained H+A to reconstruct the biomechanics of the incident.

Working backward from Tyler’s injury, considering testimony, medical records, and recent scientific studies, and using the fundamental laws of physics, H+A Associate, Erik D. Power, PE, reconstructed the injurious event, concluding: “Tyler’s injuries are a direct consequence of the Defendants allowing multiple individuals to use a trampoline mat simultaneously, despite their apparent knowledge of the associated dangers and potential for serious injuries.”

But this story is not over.  According to the Osborn Machler website, subsequent to being sued by several participants, Sky High Sports, Bellevue, “has responded by defending its position to be able to sue parents of injured children for indemnification, asking the court to force the families to repay the company the amount of the settlement or verdict it paid to the minor, and its legal fees, after the case for the minor is complete.”

Asked if he thinks participants at Trampoline Parks are risking their lives there, gymnastics coach McPherson doesn’t hesitate.  “Yes!—unknowingly!”  “Everyone in the gymnastics industry,” he says, “calls them Death Parks.” The American Academy of Pediatrics, weighing in on Trampoline use, states that, "It is not advised that children play on trampolines. The only time trampolines should be used is for training programs or certain sports, and then only under supervision of a trained adult."

Hayes+Associates, Inc. (http://www.hayesassoc.com) is an expert witness and consulting firm, based in Corvallis, OR. The company brings more than 75 years of collective experience in academic research, university teaching and forensic testimony to practice areas that include vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.

SING J SING! Former H+A Associate Rocks Monmouth Music in the Park with the Celtic Band, Coming Up Threes

Former H+A Associate, Jeremy Bauer, Plays his Irish Whistle with Coming Up Threes

When he is not running the Boston Marathon among the top 4% of finishers, or operating his own Seattle-based consulting company, Bauer Forensics, LLC, Dr. Jeremy J. Bauer, former Associate at Hayes+Associates, Inc, can be found playing the penny whistle, banjo, and bodhran in the kick-arse Celtic band Coming Up Threes.

https://comingupthrees.bandcamp.com

Coming Up Threes is a high-energy Celtic-influenced band which formed in Portland, OR in early 2012. In addition to Jeremy Bauer on whistles, banjo, bodhran, percussion and vocals, the band features Bill Tollner on guitar and lead vocals; Naoyuki Ochiai on fiddle and vocals; Charlie Norris on bass; and David Fender on drums.  

The band’s website explains it this way: “Coming Up Threes plays much of the traditional Irish pub repertoire, filtered through rock and roll, Americana and country sensibilities, to give many of these tunes a fresh, new sound. The music tactfully varies from melodic, orchestral instrumentals to stylized acapella arrangements, mixed with up-tempo, fist raising Celtic pub tunes.”

“The band regularly performs at summer concert series, pubs and festivals around the Pacific Northwest and has become a fan favorite at the Galway Bay Celtic Music Festival in Ocean Shores, WA each October.”

We recently caught the band rocking the town of Monmouth, home of Western Oregon University, 20 miles north of Corvallis.  In a fast-paced, humor-filled two-hour super gig, the band nailed tunes from Dirty Old Town to I’ll Tell Me Ma, laying down reels and jigs as if they’d just got off the boat from Dublin. 

The band has played the Monmouth Music in the Park series for several summers and remarked between songs how much they enjoy seeing the kids grow from babes in arms to joyful dancers. The whole park rocked in a foot-tapping, head bobbing, hand-clapping sing-along, and eight line dancers turned the show into a ceili, to the band’s delight.

Reflecting on the event the following day, Jeremy beamed: “What a fun night! Music, and just performing, is such an incredible treat for me,” he said.  “The relationship between band and crowd is one of my absolute favorite things.  EVERYONE is out for the same reason: to relax, enjoy life, family, friends and community.  The best!”

Bauer Forensics, LLC, www.bauerforensics.com provides expert witness services in the areas of injury biomechanics, products liability, orthopaedics, shooting reconstruction, visibility analysis, premises liability, collision/accident reconstruction, forensic photography, drone imaging, laser scanning and slip, trip and fall reconstruction.

Hayes+Associates, Inc, www.hayesassoc.com is an 11 person, Corvallis-based expert witness and consulting firm that focuses on forensic injury biomechanics related to vehicle collisions, premises safety, slips and falls, products liability, worker safety, sports and recreation, patent litigation and criminal matters.