New Jersey Jury Awards $2.7M in Factory Explosion

A jury in northern New Jersey has awarded more than $2.7 million to the family of a man killed and several workers injured in a 2008 blast at a metal casting plant.

The jury in Hackensack awarded $1.4 of the judgment to the family of 61-year-old Mario Gomez. The married father of five from Jersey City was killed instantly when a boiler-like pressurized tank exploded on Jan. 15, 2008, at the Tec-Cast Inc. facility in Carlstadt.

Attorneys for Gomez’s family and four other injured workers tell The Record newspaper that Tec-Cast failed to follow multiple safety regulations and ensure that safety devices were operative.

An attorney for Tec-Cast Inc. says the verdict is not supported by the evidence or the law. The company plans to appeal.