Estate of man injured at work sues, alleging wrongful death

YOUNGSTOWN — The estate of a man injured after being pinned between two trailers has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.

The suit filed Wednesday by Amanda Lee Bornhorst, administratrix of the estate of Thomas P. Shaw, Strongsville, seeks unspecified damages for loss of support, earning capacity, medical bills and mental anguish. Bornhorst is Shaw’s daughter.

The suit lists as defendants James Knox of Clark, Pa.; United Parcel Service Inc. of Atlanta’ UPS Ground Freight Inc. of Richmond, Va.; Gorant Candies of Boardman; American Greetings Corp. and Carlton Cards Retail Inc., both of Cleveland; and several unidentified people. Carlton Cards is a subsidiary of American Greetings, and Gorant is a division of Carlton.

Knox declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, Knox was an employee of UPS on Dec. 7, 2006, and was operating a tractor-trailer owned by the company when he backed it against a stationary trailer owned by Gorant Candies in the lot of the Market Street store. Shaw, who was an employee of Gorant, was pinned between the two trailers.

Shaw died in April 2007. Knox no longer works for UPS.

In a written statement, UPS said: “This was a tragic accident and our sympathies go out to the family of the deceased. This lawsuit was filed yesterday and our attorneys have not yet seen or had time to discuss the details of the suit.”

Shaw was 55 at the time of the accident.

American Greetings, Carlton and Gorant are part of a workers’ compensation claim seeking reimbursement of Shaw’s medical expenses.