Ohio Wrongful Death Lawsuit Results in $3.6M Verdict

An Ohio jury awarded $3.6 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was crushed to death after his truck was overloaded with propane cylinders.

The verdict was issued Tuesday in the Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court in favor of the family of Robert L. Romig, Jr., according to a report in the Canton Repository. Romig died on June 20, 2005, after a load of propane cylinders fell on him while he was trying to offload his truck during a delivery. The lawsuit accused Worthington Cylinder Corp., a subsidiary of Worthington Industries of Columbus, of overloading his truck.

Romig died when he tried to attach a hook for a crane onto one of four tiers of cylinders that were loaded onto his two-level flatbed truck. One of the cradles, loaded with propane cylinders, detached and fell on Romig, crushing him to death. According to the complaint, there should have been only three tiers of cylinders loaded onto the truck.

During the Ohio trial, a loader who worked for Worthington testified that he saw that the truck was overloaded, and saw that some of the load had created a dangerous overhang, but never informed Romig. The employee said that he knew what had caused the accident as soon as he heard Romig had been killed. The plaintiffs alleged that the company forsook safety in order to get the cylinders loaded onto trucks as fast as possible.

The lawsuit had been filed by Romig’s wife, Sandra Romig, and on behalf of their four adult children. The jury deliberated less than two hours before reaching the verdict after a three-week trial.