A fruit company and grocery chain have offered to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who says he was knocked unconscious when a lid exploded off a jar of fruit and hit him in the face.
 
Darryl Alexander of Southfield, Michigan, claims a stubborn lid flew through the air and struck him in the eye after he hit it with the rubber handle of a screwdriver.  Alexander further claims he first placed the jar of Orchard Select mixed fruit under warm water.
 
"It happened so fast. I just had no time to react. ... I staggered, lost consciousness and fell to the floor. I eventually screamed for my wife," Alexander, 56, said when interviewed during a deposition last December.

Del Monte and Kroger made the $150,000 offer to settle after U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan cleared the way for a trial by refusing to throw out much of the lawsuit. The defendants insist there is no credible evidence that the jar was unsafe.  The offer is "not an admission that defendants are liable," said Jack Klamink, attorney for Del Monte and Kroger.

Alexander's lawyer, Mark Miller, said the offer is too low because his client has permanent eye damage.

A trial date has not been set.

—Source:  The Macomb Daily (MI)