Pizza delivery man gets $180K settlement after being crushed by 400 pounds of cheese

Domino’s Pizza paid out $180,000 to a former employee who was injured while transporting 400 pounds of cheese into one of the chain’s restaurants in Connecticut about two years ago.

Mohamed Hassan, a 55-year-old Meriden resident, was unloading boxes of cheese from a truck on a rainy day in June 2016, when his hand truck slipped under the weight of the food, according to the Connecticut Law Tribune. The hand truck landed on Hassan after he fell onto his back, and he injured his ankle, knee and back, according to his lawyer, Brooke Goff.

America’s love of pizza has helped fuel an increase in cheese consumption over the past few decades. Americans consumed roughly 37 pounds of cheese per person in 2016, up 36 percent from 27 pounds per person in 1995, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For Hassan, however, the mishap was no pizza party. He wore a leg brace for six months, and will likely need knee replacement surgery, Goff said. Domino’s had Hassan see three doctors and attend several hearings before settling the case on April 14, his lawyer said.

“He wants to work and provide for his family,” Goff said. “He’s looking for a job that he can do within his limitations.”

On April 14, Domino’s and its insurer, Sedgwick Insurance, agreed to pay $180,000 to settle Hassan’s two-year-old workers’ compensation claim. Domino’s first offered $100,000; Hassan had initially asked for $325,000.

“I was satisfied with the settlement because it allows him to get back a lot of what he lost and leaves him something to begin his new career, whatever it is that he decides to do.”