IBM keyboards not the cause of wrist injuries, jury says.

A Minnesota jury found IBM Corp. blameless in a lawsuit that tried to prove a fink between the computer giant's keyboard design and an office worker's repetitive strain injuries (RSI). (Urbanski v. IBM, No. C2-93-8285 (Minn., Dakota County Dist. Ct. Mar. 8, 1995).)

The verdict marked the second time a computer keyboard maker has prevailed in a courtroom face-off with an injured worker. A year ago, Compaq Computer Corp. in Houston emerged the victor in the first suit of its kind to go to trial. (See Taking Pains to Alleviate Repetitive Strain Injuries, TRIAL, Nov. 1994, at 14.)

The manufacturers successfully argued before jurors in each case that nothing is inherently wrong with the keyboards - that worker injuries resulted from overuse of a safely designed product. Products liability lawyers have argued that poor design caused the injuries and that proper warnings could have prevented them.

Apple Computer Inc., a named defendant in the Urbanski case, settled out of court at mid-trial. The jury, however, ruled that Apple also did not have an obligation to warn consumers and did nothing wrong in designing its keyboard.

Thousands of people, many of them represented by New York plaintiffs' attorney Steven Phillips, have filed similar suits nationwide against keyboard manufacturers. Phillips was counsel for Nancy Urbanski, the plaintiff in the Hastings, Minnesota, case.

RSI is caused by swelling that results from muscle strain or overuse of tendons in the wrist, arm, neck, and shoulders. It is often debilitating for those who have the condition.