Ill. jury awards $6.7 million to family of man killed in ADM accident

Jury awards $6.7 million in fatal ADM accident

DECATUR, Ill. — An Illinois jury has decided that Archer Daniels Midland Co. should pay the family of a 26-year-old man $6.74 million after he died at one of the agribusiness company’s plants.

The judgment in the March 24, 2007, death of Francisco Moreno Garcia was entered Friday in Macon County Court in Decatur.

Garcia worked for ECF Inc. of St. Louis and was insulating pipes at one of Decatur-based ADM’s facilities on March 23, 2007, when a nearby machine malfunctioned and sprayed him with steam and hot liquid, according to Chicago attorney Donald Shapiro, who represented Garcia’s family.

“As they stripped his clothes off him to get him into the safety shower, his skin was just peeling off in strips,” Shapiro said.

Garcia died at a hospital, and the Sangamon County coroner said he had burns over almost 90 percent of his body.

ADM spokesman Roman Blahoski expressed sympathy for Garcia’s family, who live in Jalisco state in Mexico, but said the company has not decided whether to appeal the judgment.

“We are reviewing the court’s decision and considering next steps,” he said.