Settlement Amount:
$6,000,000 total; $2,600,000 by Dow Engineering Company, plus an
annuity with $1,000,000 present value; $1,500,000 by Gulf States,
Inc.; $900,000 by Magma Power Company. In addition,
Plaintiff-In-Intervention Argonaut Insurance Company waived its
$1,000,000 lien and agreed to pay future medical expenses and
vocational rehabilitation expenses for life.

Case Name:
ANTUNEZ v. COASTAL CONVEYOR SYSTEMS, INC., et al.

Case Number and Date:
San Diego County Superior Court Case No. EC 006343

Plaintiffs:
R. Antunez

Defendants:
Dow Engineering Company; Magma Power Company; Gulf States, Inc.

Facts and Background:
R. Antunez was a filter-press operator at the Leathers Geothermal
Power Plant. The power plant was developed by Magma Power
Company. Dow Engineering had been hired to provide technical
assistance in the overall design and manufacture of the plant.
Gulf States, Inc. was the general contractor.

Dow Engineering hired Coastal Conveyors (bankrupt and without
insurance coverage) to design and build the conveyor belt. R.
Denney, the mechanical engineer at Coastal, had designed and
manufactured over 2,000 conveyor belts, including conveyors for 2
other similar geothermal power plants in which Magma and Dow had
been involved.

Plaintiff’s job included maintaining a conveyor belt that
transported material to storage bins. On December 16, 1991,
plaintiff was attempting to dry the head pulley on this conveyor
belt when he put his hand into the nip point (area between the
head pulley and belt). He was pulled in up to his shoulder.

Plaintiff’s Contentions:
Plaintiff contended the head pulley was not adequately guarded,
failed to comply with industry guarding standards, that
defendants Dow, Magma and Gulf were negligent in the design,
manufacture and installation of the conveyor belt system, and
that defendants had failed to verify the head pulley had been
properly manufactured by Coastal. Plaintiff contended the
defendants should have been responsible for checking Coastal’s
work.

Defendants’ Contentions:
Defendants contended the head pulley guard complied with all
applicable industry guarding standards, including ANSI.
Defendants and their experts claimed these guarding standards
were designed to protect a worker from inadvertent or accidental
contact with a hazard. They claimed plaintiff was deliberately
and intentionally acting to contact the head pulley, thereby
defeating the guard in place. Defendants contended if anything
was defective with the conveyor belt, it was the sole
responsibility of the company which designed and manufactured the
conveyor belt, Coastal Conveyor Systems (not a party to the case
because bankrupt and without any insurance). Defendants
contended plaintiff was comparatively negligent (50% to 75%) for
failing to turn off the conveyor before attempting to clean the
head pulley as he had been trained to do by his employer,
including a safety training course just 2 months before
the accident. Defendants also contended plaintiff’s employer
Redhill was comparatively negligent (25% to 50%) for failing to
adequately train plaintiff and for creating an unsafe work
environment by virtue of a bonus plan which rewarded employees
for competitive productivity with other geothermal plants.
Defendants contended this bonus plan encouraged employees to act
dangerously and not shut down the system in instances where they
should. Defendants also contended plaintiff’s employer Redhill
was responsible for inadequate guarding of the head pulley under
Cal-OSHA regulations.

Damages:
3rd and 4th degree burns to 30% of his body, including head, face
and chest. Right (major) arm surgically amputated at mid-humerus
level. During medical care, plaintiff’s dura was torn, resulting
in subdural hematoma causing right-sided hemiparesis and mild
aphasia.

Plaintiff-In-Intervention sought reimbursement for its lien of
medical expenses and disability payments totaling approximately
$1,000,000.