HOUSTON – A man claiming a welder burned his eyes is suing Amazon and other companies.
The suit, which seeks more than $5 million in damages, was brought by James Fuchs, Jr. and names Total Safety U.S., Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com Services and Turner Construction Company as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, on Feb. 26 Fuchs was working at a construction project in Tennessee as an employee of BASF. As part of his job, he would do a walk-around on the site, conducting daily inspections on different aspects of the project. During the walk-around, Fuchs and his coworker came upon third-party contractors, including personnel with Defendant Total Safety.
Total Safety was required to ensure the work area was safe, prior to any welding.
“Despite this, Defendant Total Safety green lit welding work to begin and equipment to be operated, even without a fire watch and helper in place,” the suit states. “Without warning, the welder turned towards Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s coworker, and hit them with an arc flash, burning both individuals’ eyes.”
A welding arc flash is a burn of the eyes caused by the intense ultra-violet radiation generated by electric welding. Like a burn on the body, it can vary in severity.
In this case, the arc flash caused severe damage to Fuchs’ eyes and burned his retinas. Months after the incident, he still suffers from partial blindness, rendering him unable to complete basic tasks, the suit states.
Amazon was constructing the building for a development in Nashville Yards—a development with a $230 million price tag, according to the suit.
Amazon brought on Turner for construction management. The work conducted by the welders was done at the request of Amazon and Turner.
Fuchs is alleging gross negligence and is seeking damages for his pain, mental anguish, impairment, disfigurement, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity and loss of household services.
He is represented by Andrew Dao and Ajay Ketkar, attorneys for the Daly & Black law firm in Houston.