John Deere Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed After Man Falls from Bulldozer

The family of a man who fell off a bulldozer and was run over has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against John Deere and a seatbelt manufacturer. 

The product liability lawsuit was filed on October 14 in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, by the family of Kyle Northcutt, who was training to be a heavy equipment operator at Associated Training Services of Texas, according to a report in The Southeast Texas Record.

While driving over a ridge on July 30, Northcutt was thrown from the John Deere bulldozer, which continued moving and ran him over. The lawsuit names John Deer & Co. and Indiana Mills & Manufacturing as defendants. The training service was not named as a defendant by the family.

According to the John Deere lawsuit, the seatbelt inadvertently unlatched and the dozer failed to include a pressure switch that could have shut it off if the operator was not present. The lawsuit alleges that John Deere failed to use an adequate seatbelt and failed to install a pressure sensitive switch.

The lawsuit also charges Indiana Mills & Manufacturing with negligence and strict liability for failing to design a seatbelt that stays latched or which can inadvertently unlatch or appear to be latched when it is not. The lawsuit claims the company failed to follow industry standards in creating the seatbelt and of failing to warn Northcutt of the seatbelt’s deficiencies.