STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 33-year-old Travis man was killed when a Murphy bed being installed in his apartment sprung up and hit him, a lawsuit alleges.
Joseph Annunziato died instantly.
“The bed snapped up with such force that it crushed his skull and severed his spine,” said lawyer Elias Fillas, of the Astoria, Queens-based firm Sacco & Fillas, which is representing Annunziato’s estate.
The episode occurred on New Year’s Eve, 2012, said court papers.
A Murphy bed is a bed that folds up into a cabinet, which is fastened to a wall. It’s designed to save space in an apartment.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan state Supreme Court against Murphy Bed Express Inc. seeks unspecified monetary damages.
“The family is obviously devastated to have such a tragic event occur,” Fillas said. “It’s really taken its toll on the family.”
The cause of death was blunt impact of head with skull fractures and injuries of the eyes, brain and spinal cord, said a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office.
Annunziato's death was deemed to be accidental, she said.
Fillas said Annunziato, a construction worker, was installing the queen-size bed with at least one other party present. He declined to elaborate, although court papers contend Murphy Bed Express was involved in the installation.
The civil complaint alleges the bed “should have been properly secured to avoid injury.”
Murphy Express was negligent by selling a “defective” bed “without instructions, warnings and all pieces necessary to properly and safely assemble the bed,” contends the complaint.
In addition, the bed had “parts and pieces that were not intended for use” with it, the complaint alleges.
Annunziato bought the bed in June 2011 in Murphy Bed Express’ Manhattan store, said the complaint.
Citing anticipated pretrial proceedings, Fillas declined to comment when asked about the 18-month difference between the purchase date and installation.
According to Murphy Bed Express’ website, company technicians deliver and install new beds.
Severino Duran, a manager at Murphy Bed Express, said Monday he has not received the lawsuit papers.
He said the company had delivered a bed to an Annunziato family in Manhattan, but not on Staten Island.
“I don’t know how that unit got over there,” Duran said, referring to Annunziato’s Travis residence.
The Murphy bed was invented by Dr. William Murphy in 1900, and there are more than 40,000 in the city, said the company’s website.