Leejames1953

My first stationary saw was an old Craftsman 10" radial arm saw that was given to me by a contractor I worked for at the time. He got a lot of use out of it and I have had it for about 30 years. I use it on pretty much every job I do. It is my preferred tool for cross cuts, shoulder cuts on the thin side of the board for tenons, and miter cuts. I easily squared the blade to the table and it has stayed square with very little maintenance. When I first started woodworking, I used it for everything (since I was too poor to afford a table saw), I even ripped lumber on it without a problem. I hope it does not go out! It would be a real shame.

After working for a large insurance company for 30 years and being a claims manager for 9 of those years, it comes as no surprise that a jury of one’s “peers” could render such a horrendous award. I have also sat on a few juries, and the plaintiff’s individual responsibilities for causing an accident never came into question. Plaintiff attorneys do a great job of ignoring facts and soliciting the sympathies of a clueless jury.

Ryobi’s responsibilities should have ended when the employer removed the safety mechanisms from the product. As with most accidents of this type, improper training and supervision by the employer, and the removal of the safety features in place were the proximate cause of this accident; not the lack of the saw stop safety feature.

This goes right up there with someone putting hot coffee between there legs while driving in the car and when they get scalded they are awarded a million dollar verdict. Forget the plaintiff’s responsibility to be careful with a container that says “caution hot coffee”