MAKER OF WATER HEATER TOLD TO PAY $ 15 MILLION
Oct 16, 1995
The National Law Journal
VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS column
Maker of Water Heater Told To Pay $ 15 Million
CASE TYPE: liability
CASE: Scott v. Rheem Manufacturing Co., 92-854 (Cir. Ct., Baldwin Co., Ala.)
PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEYS: F. Downing, of Metairie, La.'s Gauthier
& Murphy, and Joseph M. Brown Jr., of Mobile, Ala.'s Cunningham.
Bounds, Yance, Crowder & Brown.
DEFENSE ATTORNEYS: F. Pierce and Andrew C. Clausen, of Mobile, Ala.'s
Pierce, Carr, Alford, Ledyard & Latta P.C.
JURY VERDICT: $15 million
ON AUG. 20, 1991, Andrew J. Scott, then 2 years old, was playing on the
back porch of his home in Elberta, Ala. An open can of gasoline was either
turned or knocked over and gas spilled onto the porch. Andrew was standing
in a puddle of gasoline when the vapors were sucked into the open flame
of a natural gas water heater in the adjacent room, said his attorney,
Edward F. Downing.
The open flame lit the vapors which, Mr. Downing said, "flashed back
like a fuse to the pool of gasoline." In the resulting fire. Andrew
suffered severe burns over half his body. He has had five surgeries to
treat the burns; he likely will have five more before reaching adulthood,
Mr. Downing added.
The boy's father sued Rheem Manufacturing Co., maker of the water
heater, charging that it was defectively designed. The Rheem heater sucked
in air from the floor, and, as such, "presented a hazard for the
ignition of flammable vapors," Mr. Downing said. If the water heater
had been elevated at least 18 inches from the floor, the ignition of the
vapors likely would not have happened, he added.
"The cause of this accident was not the water heater," said
defense attorney Andrew C. Clausen. "The proximate cause was that
a gallon can half full of gasoline was left open on a back porch where
a 2-year-old was left to play unsupervised." But, on Sept. 8, an
Alabama jury rejected this defense and awarded Andrew $ 15 million, including
$ 12 million in punitives. The defense will appeal.