Woman wins $2.7m over exploding e-cigarette

[poledriver]

Jury awards $2.7 million to woman burned by exploding e-cigarette

AN AMERICAN woman badly burned by an exploding electronic cigarette has been awarded $2.7 million by a jury in a product liability suit, her lawyer said.
Jennifer Ries of Corona, California was on her way to the airport in March 2013 when her VapCigs e-cigarette charger started spewing hot metal that ignited her dress right after she plugged it in, lawyer Gregory Bentley said.
Mrs Ries’ husband, Xavier Ries, tossed an iced coffee on her to extinguish the flames, but she was scarred for life by second-degree burns on her buttocks, thighs and hand, according to the lawsuit.


The couple missed their flight to Brazil — where they had planned to help build a community centre for children in the slums of Rio de Janeiro — and Mrs Ries ended up at an urgent care facility and a burn clinic the following day.
After a six-day trial, a Riverside Superior Court jury awarded US$1.9 million to Mrs Ries in the lawsuit against VapCigs, which distributes the Chinese-made e-cigarette and charger, wholesaler Cartons 2 Go and retailer Tobacco Expo, Mr Bentley said.

Cont with vid -

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busi...ding-e-cigarette/story-fnu2q2e9-1227554406279

 

[jammin83]

Seems a bit excessive. Why can't shit like this happen to me? I'd take a scar on my ass for 2.7 mil.

 

[spacejunk]

Fuck, thats pretty scary. I'm glad she got handsomely compensated; e-cigs are meant to be a safe alternative!

 

[manboychef]

There should be a lot less litigation. In america, corporations just draw on taxpayer dollars when something like this happens, (ie liability insurance that is mostly subsidized by the government) or the workers at the bottom of the ladder take a pay cut (execs nearly never take paycuts when things like this jeopardize company profits)

I really feel bad for the kids in the slums of rio de janearo. They lost two people that would help build their community center. I think that part of the settlement should be the company donates some of that money to help build the community center.

 

[Felonious Monk]

At least she didn't burn her face, she was still pretty enough to sell it to a jury.

She's also lucky she bought it from a brick and mortar store. I can imagine a website with no physical presence or Chinese importer would be a lot more difficult to hold liable than 3 clear levels of sale (importer, wholesaler, retailer).