TECHNOLOGY - Feb. 23, 1994

Compaq Computer Wins Lawsuit: The case involved what is believed to be the first jury verdict in a suit brought by a customer who claims to have been permanently hurt by a computer keyboard. In the case, Patsy Heard Woodcock, a former legal secretary in Houston, said she suffered wrist injuries from using a Compaq keyboard. She can’t lift more than five pounds with her hands. She asked Compaq for $800,000 in damages and lost wages. But jurors, who deliberated for 55 minutes after a two-and-a-half-week trial, found the computer company didn’t know its computers could cause injury. Compaq and other big-name firms, including IBM Corp. and Apple Computer Inc., face lawsuits from people who say repetitive operations on keyboards cause crippling injuries.