Luna v. Le, Deere Co., and Pilgrim’s Pride
May 24, 2007OUTCOME: The jury found no negligence by Le.
Cause No. 2005-529; In the 402nd District Court of Wood County, Texas. Kirk Garner represented defendant Le. On July 20, 2004, plaintiff’s decedent Luna, a day laborer, was run over and killed by a J ... ohn Deere hay cutter while working on a chicken farm owned by defendant Le. The farm was near Quitman. Luna had apparently fallen off the tractor while operating it. No one else was present at the time of the incident. Le had a contract with Pilgrim’s Pride to raise chickens. Luna’s mother sued Le for negligence and Deere Co., operating as John Deere Co., on a products liability theory, and sued Pilgrim’s Pride on a theory of joint enterprise with Le. The plaintiff alleged that Le failed to train Luna in the proper operation of the hay cutter; failed to maintain the tractor, which had a broken seat belt; and failed to warn employees of an unreasonably dangerous condition, in that the tractor did not have a kill switch to shut down the motor when the driver left the seat. The plaintiff alleged that this was a defect. The defense denied negligence and product defect, and Pilgrim’s Pride denied joint enterprise.
