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This article was featured on November 7, 1997 on Daily Freeman News

Jury awards Saugerties couple $741,000 for injuries suffered in
Ferroxcube accident

ALBANY - A Saugerties couple has been awarded $741,000 in a suit against a Swiss company that manufactured a machine that injured the in the head.

The decision by the six-person jury awarded the damages to Gary and Veronica Russell following a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Albany.

Russell, now 38, worked for Ferroxcube - now Philips Components - in Saugerties, when he was hit in the head by a 25 pound machine door on March 22, 1990, according to his lawyer, David Clegg of Kingston.

The product liability suit was filed against Linear Abrasive S.A., which built the machine that makes electric components out of ferrite.

Russell suffered post-concussive syndrome, including headaches, memory loss and panic disorder, Clegg said. He has been out of work since the accident because of the disability, he said.

The defense lawyer, Irwin Simon of Verner, Simon and Rocha in New York City, said the verdict was due to "the outstanding job David Clegg did for his client."

"Had it been a lesser attorney, the decision would have been a lot different," he added.

Simon said it would be up to his client weather to appeal the verdict, but said the jury was very thorough in its approach to the damages, noting they asked for an adding machine.

In my 30 years of practice, I've never had the shocking experience of a jury requesting an adding machine from a judge," Simon said, "That really sends shivers down a defense attorney's spine."