$2,250,000 SETTLEMENT IN PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWSUIT – DEFECTIVE ELECTRIC BLANKET CAUSES BURN INJURY & NERVE INJURY TO FOOT

Our client, a 27 year old woman, sustained a third degree burn to her foot when her electric blanket caught fire while she was sleeping.  This burn required a surgical procedure where a skin graft was taken from her hip and attached to her foot.   The blanket had been recalled because of concerns that it could overheat if left plugged in and powered on for an extended period of time.  Our client’s injury occurred more than a year after the recall occurred, but our client never knew that the product had been recalled.  We argued that the product was not only defective, but that the lack of communication by the seller to notify our client of the recall was reckless.  The seller claimed it had sent one email and that was adequate communication.  We argued that: (1) our client did not receive the email and the seller could not produce evidence of the actual email that was sent; and (2) even if it did send one email, it was also emailing our client daily attempting to get her to buy more products so sending only one email to her was inadequate especially since the seller only sold 25 of the recalled blankets.  We retained experts to establish liability and damages in the following fields: (1) mechanical engineering; (2) consumer product safety, regulatory compliance, and quality management programs; (3) life care planning; (4) plastic surgery; (5) neurology; and (6) psychiatry.  While the case did not settle at mediation, it eventually did settle after depositions were taken of several of the plaintiff’s experts and after we deposed two of the seller’s employees in the compliance department that were involved in the recall of the product.

 

* Please note that prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in other matters or cases, as each case has a unique set of facts and circumstances.