Burn Victim Settles Fluor, IBM Lawsuit

An apprentice technician who received burns on 60% of his body after an electrical explosion settled a lawsuit this week against engineering contract firm Fluor Corp. and technology powerhouse IBM Corp.

Fluor’s insurance companies will pay $9.5 million in damages, and Fluor’s workers’ compensation carrier paid $5.9 million in medical bills for David McNabb, 37, his attorney said Tuesday.

McNabb was hospitalized for 20 months after an accident at an IBM facility in San Jose in January 2002.

An IBM supervisory engineer asked McNabb and another Fluor contractor to scavenge replacement parts from shutdown electrical equipment in a building where the electrical unit allegedly was labeled with a yellow “out of service” tag. When McNabb applied his wrench to a piece of equipment, 12,400 volts exploded through his body, said his attorney Richard Alexander.

Representatives from Aliso Viejo-based Fluor, one of the world’s largest engineering companies, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.