VALPARAISO | A Valparaiso man, whose leg was amputated by a cardboard box corrugating machine at Jet Corr in Valparaiso four years ago, has agreed to accept a settlement offer that amounts to more than $15 million over his lifetime, according to court documents filed Wednesday by his attorneys.

The settlement was reached on behalf of Jordan Moore, 26, who now resides in Chesterton.

The court documents filed Wednesday also reveal that eight months before Moore was mangled while clearing a paper jam in the machinery, a "strikingly similar" accident occurred at Jet Corr's sister plant in Springfield, Ohio. There, an employee named Allan Ritter had his leg "crushed by similar machinery under nearly identical circumstances," according to court documents.

Moore's attorneys, Kenneth J. Allen and Bryan L. Bradley, stated in court documents that "this tragedy could and should have been avoided" but "nothing was done to warn Jordan and his co-workers at the Valparaiso plant. Nothing was done to properly train them or otherwise guard against the hazard which cost Jordan his limb. Despite the dangers known to Jet Corr, Inc., its workers were encouraged to remove paper jams without locking out the machinery so that Jet's paper line production, and its profits, could continue unabated."

Attorneys couldn't comment about the case or the court documents filed Wednesday, because of a confidentiality agreement.

The court documents filed Wednesday seek to protect Moore's settlement from efforts by PMA Insurance Group, Jet Corr's insurer, to claim more than $150,000 of the settlement. The insurance company wants reimbursement for medical bills and disability payments it made to Moore.

When Allen filed the lawsuit in 2002, he said a goal was to force changes in the way the industry's machines are designed and installed.