HOUSTON — A Harris County man is suing a truck manufacturer, alleging that he was injured irreparably due to a ladder malfunction on a dump truck.
Hector Abel Molina Zuniga filed a complaint on April 16 in the Harris County District Court against Strong Industries Inc., alleging negligence, product liability, breach of implied warranty.
According to the complaint, on Jan. 10, Zuniga was driving a dump truck designed and manufactured by Strong Industries. The suit states Zuniga was hauling wet concrete to a construction site in Winne, Texas, and saw that the tarp on the top of the truck was not closed. The plaintiff says he climbed a ladder on the driver's side in order to pull the tarp down. The suit says Zuniga lost his footing, tried to grab a rung of the ladder, then fell, causing his finger to be ripped from his hand and for tendons to be detached at the elbow.
The plaintiff was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital, the suit says, and transferred to UTMB in Galveston where his finger was reattached. However, he lost the digit after several days due to tendon damage. This led to physical impairment and mental anguish.
Zuniga seeks monetary relief in excess of $1 million, interest, attorney fees, courts costs and all other equitable relief. He is represented by attorneys David A. Bryant Jr of The Bryant Law Firm in Conroe, and by Brian D. Sutton of Sutton & Jacobs LLP in Beaumont.
Harris County District Court case number 2019-26719