Eliminating Guardrails Atop Elevator Saved $1K But Cost $2.17M

Saving $1,000 to $1,500 by not installing guardrails on top of a $1 million cargo elevator, as the original design called for, cost two elevator companies $2.17 million yesterday.

That's what a jury in Rock County, Wis., awarded the widow of a General Motors worker who died Oct. 30, 2003 after falling about 20 feet from a platform while repairing the elevator in the company's Janesville plant, reports the Janesville Gazette.

In better times, Maureen Mellom would have gotten more for the death of her 44-year-old husband, Douglas. However, his employer's grim financial condition reduced the estimate of his future earnings that accounted for $1.2 million of the award against the elevator companies, says plaintiff attorney James Wickhem of Meier, Wickhem, Lyons & Schulz. He represented the Mellom family along with attorney Larry Barton.

Schindler Elevator Co. and Minnesota Elevator Inc. are the defendants in the case.