Jury awards $9.6 million to injured worker in industrial accident

An industrial worker who suffered severe eye damage after he was doused in acid in an April 2006 workplace accident has been awarded $9.6 million by a Texas jury. The jury found that Dallas-based Occidental Chemical Corp., a unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp., negligently designed the acid addition system to which Equistar Chemicals worker Jason Jenkins was adding acid at the Lyondell Bayport facility when the accident in question occurred.

Jenkins, who lost most of his vision in one eye, alleged that Occidental’s system lacked a pressure indicator and it failed to properly vent pressure to prevent worker injury. The faulty design vented pressure near the worker’s face, according to trial evidence. The jury found Occidental 75% responsible, Equistar 20% responsible and Jenkins 5% responsible for the incident. A safer alternative design was available, according to trial testimony, when the system was designed.