TV ‘Fall Guy’ Suit Settled for $1 Million

A studio mechanic and an assistant director who were injured during filming of an episode of “The Fall Guy” television series have agreed to a $1-million settlement of a suit, their lawyer announced Thursday.

Attorney Jerry Kroll said his clients, former 20th Century Fox studio workers Bob Macleen and Frank Crawford, each will receive six-figure payments in addition to workers compensation already collected for injuries they sustained when a stunt vehicle went out of control.

Defendants in the case included Lee Majors, who co-produced and starred in the “Fall Guy” series, Glen Larson Productions and Star Pictures Vehicles.

In the accident, which occurred in August, 1983, at Indian Dunes near Newhall, a Jeep that was supposed to hit a ramp and roll over instead landed upright and struck nine people, injuring three seriously. Macleen, a mechanic on the site, sustained a fractured pelvis, hip and leg, leaving him with a partial lack of sensation below his waist. Crawford, assistant director of the episode, suffered broken ribs.

The accident occurred on the same site where a helicopter crashed and killed three people a year earlier during filming of “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” Kroll said.

Under the agreement in the “Fall Guy” case, reached by lawyers Friday, Macleen will collect $300,000 and Crawford will receive $475,000. The agreement also provides that Macleen and Crawford will not have to repay about $225,000 in workers compensation previously paid to them by Fox.

Attorney Kroll said it is unusual for plaintiffs already awarded workers compensation to be excused from repayment. California Workers Compensation law requires that payments under the plan must be offset against later awards from third parties.

Fox Vice President of Corporate Communications Michael Binkow said the studio has no comment about the “Fall Guy” settlement.

Kroll said the defendants never contested liability for the accident, but instead argued that the plaintiffs were barred from bringing suit against them. Under state law, an employee covered by workers compensation cannot bring a private suit against his employer.

The “Fall Guy” defendants were not Macleen and Crawford’s employers, but were independent contractors, Kroll said.