Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Depew woman permanently injured when an exercise machine collapsed has been awarded $3.8 million by a second Buffalo jury that reviewed her negligence suit, court officials announced Tuesday.

At the close of a weeklong trial before State Supreme Court Justice Rose H. Sconiers, the jury decided Monday that insurance carriers for BJ Wholesale Club, which sold the Chinesemade equipment, and Lifegear should compensate Jerry Lynn Blanchard, 40, who suffered back injuries that have required five operations.  Doctors have told her she no longer can hold a job, officials said.

James E. Brown and Donald P. Chiari, Blanchard's attorneys, said the Lifegear Fitness Flyer collapsed at about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2, 1998, while she was using it in her home. At the time, Blanchard worked as a stock handler at Quebecor's Depew printing plant, her attorneys said.

During the recent trial, her attorneys emphasized that a defective weld broke, causing the machine to collapse.  A state appellate court, citing procedural errors, overturned a $5.45 million verdict awarded in November 2005.