The Brown Mackie lawsuit is a massive class action suit that was brought against Mackie Management in the state of Ohio, USA. It was alleged that Mackie falsely represented the safety and efficiency of their equipment, while at the same time knowingly and negligently causing injury to hundreds of thousands of trusting customers. The original case was filed by the National Office Building Contractors Association (NOCA) and was subsequently ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s. Thereafter, NOCA went onto file a complaint against Mackie with the US Department of Labor. The complaint ultimately resulted in Mackie being taken off the NOCA’s rolls.
The Brown Mackie lawsuit is actually the third lawsuit against Mackie, following two cases previously won by NOCA. The first of these was brought against Mackie by an individual who was injured while using Mackie scaffolding, which was not properly maintained at the time. A member of NOCA, Thomas Fenno, brought a separate lawsuit against Mackie, this time targeting the company for negligence. Fenno claimed that Mackie ignored evidence that showed the scaffold was faulty, which led to Fenno falling and breaking his leg.
With these lawsuits in mind, many people wonder just how serious a case the Brown Mackie lawsuit actually is. Well, despite the fact that there are a number of class-action lawsuits currently ongoing in the state of Ohio, it should be noted that this is by no means the first time that this has happened. Previous clients of Mackie have included individuals who were victims of a major flood that damaged their homes. Additionally, individuals were injured when Mackie’s scaffold became unstable due to wind pressure and fell on several individuals. Additionally, in one instance, an individual died when his home was severely damaged by a flash flood. Despite the aforementioned instances, more than 90% of the plaintiffs in the case have been awarded compensation, with many cases going to a full trial.
As you may very well expect, the Brown Mackie lawsuit is far from an easy process. The plaintiffs are generally required to file a motion for summary judgment in order to receive a fair shake from the defendants. Although most motions for summary judgment are easily denied, the plaintiffs are not entirely without hope. There are two different types of motions that the plaintiffs are able to file in order to gain the necessary evidence in order to win the lawsuit.
Motion for an assignment of damages – in which the plaintiffs request that the court assign a certain amount of damages to each of them as a result of their claim – is one way to ask for compensation. It is important, however, to note that there are two classifications of damages that the courts will consider while assigning this assignment. First, there are the “monetary damages” which include things such as pain and suffering. Also, there are injury-based damages which include mental anguish and emotional distress. Finally, there is property damage which refers to the property losses suffered.
The second type of motion that plaintiffs who wish to join a class-action lawsuit must make is the “cross-complaint.” Cross-complaints are filed with the same complaint but on a different argument. In general, cross-complaint cases are used when the plaintiffs do not actually want to sue on their own behalf, but would rather be part of a large class of plaintiffs who will be suing on behalf of each other. In many instances, the judge will allow a class-action lawsuit to continue even if it does involve many personal injuries, since the goal is to get all the victims and their families paid for any damage they have suffered.
