Palm Beach County, Florida Court

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Summary of Complaint: Cause of action arose out of an incident in April 2006 at a construction site in Port St. Lucie where the plaintiff, Mr. Damiano, was working as a carpenter. According to the plaintiff, the general contractor for the project, Cloutier Brothers, hired the defendant, Royal Crane, LLC (aka Hunter Crane), to provide crane services. The plaintiff alleged that the crane operator the defendant provided “had a history of prior job site accidents while operating a crane,” and that Hunter was aware of this history. The plaintiff further claimed that he had informed the principals of Hunter about his concerns over this operator and requested that the operator “not be sent to any job site where plaintiff was working.” Hunter disregarded these protests and sent the operator in question to the Port St. Lucie work site, according to the plaintiff. During construction on April 26 the plaintiff alleged that the Hunter employee in question operated the crane with “gross and flagrant negligence” and as a result the swinging truss of the crane sheared the left arm of the plaintiff.

Hunter Crane settled the case with Damiano, agreeing to pay him $100,000. But Hunter also countersued the general contractor, Cloutier Brothers, alleging that by signing its standard crane rental agreement, Cloutier indemnified Hunter Crane from any liability for injuries or property damages. Hunter and Cloutier Brothers settled the case, with Cloutier agreeing to pay Hunter the $100,000 it had paid Damiano, plus attorney fees of $163,746. Cloutier also assigned its rights to pursue legal action against its insurance companies to Hunter Crane (See case below).

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Royal Crane/Hunter Crane v. Mid-Continent Casualty
Broward County Circuit Court
Case 11-019302

Summary: The Damiano case above led to this case, in which Hunter Crane is suing three insurance companies, including broker W.F. Roemer Agency and carriers Mid-Continent Casualty and Florida Home Builders Insurance. Hunter alleges that the insurers have wrongfully denied coverage and failed to defend Cloutier in the Damiano litigation. Hunter Crane seeks unspecified damages and costs.

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Complaint     08/19/2011