Digital Must Pay Damages to Keyboard Users

In the first verdict of its kind, a federal jury in New York ordered computer maker Digital Equipment Corp. to pay nearly $6 million to three consumers who suffered disabling arm and wrist injuries they blamed on their keyboards.

Patricia Geressy, a secretary at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, won nearly $5.4 million; Jill Jackson, a legal secretary, was awarded $306,000; and Janet Rotolo, a hospital billing clerk, was awarded $278,000.

The women worked on keyboards that Digital knew could result in carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries, said their lawyer, Steven Philips.

Despite a rising number of complaints from office workers, no computer maker has ever been ordered to pay damages for injuries blamed on keyboard design.

The verdict was returned last week by a federal jury in Brooklyn after a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein.

Maynard, Mass.-based DEC said it will ask Weinstein to set aside the verdict and that it may appeal to a higher court. The company said it believes its products are “safe and conform to all applicable industry standards.”

Phillips estimated there are at least 50 other such cases pending against DEC in the New York area.