Settlement reached in Aurora man's concrete mixer death
A $10,000 settlement has been reached in lawsuit over a 39-year-old Aurora man who got caught in a concrete mixer and was killed three years ago while working at the Naperville-based DuKane Precast, according to court records.
Relatives of Vicente Guzman-Chaidez of Aurora filed a wrongful-death lawsuit early last year, 2015 arguing that the company should be held liable for his July 20, 2013 death at an Aurora plant, at 2000 Plain Ave.
The lawsuit argued that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Heath Administration concluded DuKane did not handle the concrete tank cleaning protocol correctly and that Guzman-Chaidez was injured and killed while inside the tank after another co-worker triggered a gate at the bottom of the mixer.
Guzman-Chaidez was employed by Minute Men Staffing Services at the time, although that company was not named in the lawsuit, which argued DuKane was negligent, failed to properly train workers and failed to follow safety protocols.
Mario Palermo, an attorney for Guzman-Chaidez's heirs, did not return a phone message. Palermo's firm will receive $2,500 in attorney fees and the remainder will be split between two of the dead man's heirs, according to Kane County court records.
Adam Kreuzer, attorney for DuKane, declined to comment.
The suit was settled last week in Kane County court and approved by Judge Edward Schreiber, court records show.