A Massachusetts chemical company reportedly has won a nearly $100,000 lawsuit against a Vermont trucking firm and its driver after a jury found the chemical company lost money more than two years ago as the result of an 18-wheel tractor-trailer knocking out a nearby transformer.
Land-Air Express of New England, which has offices in Abington and Springfield, was ordered by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Nonnie S. Burnes to pay $91,624.21 to Ashland-based Nyacol Nano Technologies, according to the Metro West News of Framingham. A jury trial in Cambridge began Dec. 11, and the final judgment was ordered Dec. 21, according to court records.
The civil suit, which was filed in January, also named Land-Air Express driver Ralph Carpino. On Aug. 11, 2004, according to court documents, Carpino was driving a truck that had made a delivery to Nyacol when he hit a power line, knocking down a utility pole and causing a transformer to overheat. Nyacol had claimed Land-Air Express and Carpino’s negligence caused the company to suffer.
Nyacol regained about 40 percent of its power later that night, but for the next five days, 60 percent of the plant was without power, and production froze, the suit claimed. “Nyacol’s damage was extensive, and repairs were not finished until mid-November 2004,” the suit said. Other trucking companies are familiar with driving patterns around Nyacol’s facility, according to the suit.
The newspaper was unable to reach Bill Spenser, Land-Air Express president, for comment on any plans to appeal the case. Nyacol attorney Madonna Cournoyer also could not be reached for comment on the case.
