Product Liability Settlements
Union City Man Awarded $2.3 Million in Bowflex Settlement
Attorneys Randall Phillips, formerly with Hill-Boren, and Jeff Boyd represented a Union City man who was permanently injured by his Bowflex weight system. An Obion County jury awarded over $2,300,000.00 to the injured man.
The 58-year old man bought a Bowflex Power Pro weight system in May 2000. Unknown to him, the backboard benches in this machine were made of cheap, thin plywood covered in foam. The company had never done any design or testing on the backboard benches to determine if they could withstand the loads that a person working out on the machine would exert.
In December 2002, the plaintiff was working out as directed on the manual and the backboard bench snapped and threw his head down and forward causing a severe herniated disc in his neck. He underwent surgery but remained with severe nerve damage causing decreased use of his right arm. As a result of his chronic pain, he is going to be on a high dose of narcotic medication for the rest of his life which affects his mental ability and daily activities to the point that he can no longer work.
In trial it was shown that Bowflex was aware for over a year that these benches were failing and causing severe injury. Rather than stopping the sales, they continued to market, manufacture and sell the defective products. Only after this injury did Bowflex attempt to correct their product. Two years later they did a voluntary recall of over 400,000 of these products.
It was further brought out in the trial that the design fix that would have prevented this injury cost $6.90 to make, yet the company chose to keep selling the machines as is. After considering the evidence in a two week trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff $328,000 in compensatory damages. Based on the evidence Mr. Boyd presented showing the misdeeds of Bowflex in selling these products when they knew that they were defective, the jury awarded $2,000,000 in punitive damages.
YOUNG BOY KILLED BY DAISY BB GUN
T. Robert Hill represented the parents of a 10-year-old boy who was shot in the head and killed by a BB fired from a Daisy BB gun. Mr. Hill associated attorney Robert M. Cearley of Little Rock, Arkansas, to assist in the case. Mr. Cearley is well known for his long history of court battles with Daisy Manufacturing Company. Hill Boren and their clients believed Daisy was responsible for the death of the child by manufacturing and marketing a product that, when used as intended, was capable of killing a child. The case was settled prior to trial for a confidential sum.
BREAST IMPLANTS
Multiple women represented by Hill Boren and associate counsel, Mr. Ed Blizzard of Houston, Texas, settled cases for confidential amounts outside of the multi-district litigation and the nationally publicized "revised settlement." Hill Boren has been involved in settlements for multiple diseases and injuries suffered by Hill Boren clients for leakage and rupture of defective breast implants. Diseases included fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus and scleroderma. One case was tried to a jury for five weeks at a cost of over $100,000.00. The jury verdict was unfavorable and the case was not appealed. Settlements by Hill Boren are the only known out-of-court settlements for breast implant victims outside of inadequate nationally revised settlements in the entire State of Tennessee. The Hill Boren team continues to negotiate with manufacturers to settle additional breast implant claims and to represent dozens of victims in the bankruptcy of Dow-Corning, the largest manufacturer of breast implants in the world.
FIRE CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE TELEVISION
$250,000 SETTLEMENT
SHELBY COUNTY
Forty year old female and three year old son die from fire caused by defect in Matsushita/Quasar television. $250,000.00 settlement in Shelby County.
BUCKLE ON CANVAS TOP BREAKS
LOSS OF SIGHT IN RIGHT EYE
$190,000 LUMP SUM SETTLEMENT
Twenty-seven year old male loses partial sight in right eye when a plastic buckle on a canvas jeep top breaks and strikes him in eye. $190,000.00 lump sum settlement in Greene County.
ACETYLENE CYLINDER EXPLOSION
BURN INJURY
$6.5 MILLION FEDERAL COURT VERDICT - SETTLED
Fifty year old man suffered 70% burn when a defective acetylene cylinder that his son was using caught fire and exploded. Lawsuit against largest cylinder manufacturer in world. First trial ended in verdict for manufacturer. Appeal to U.S. Court of Appeals. Case reversed and sent back for retrial in federal court in Memphis. Two week trial resulted in jury verdict for plaintiff and wife (then ex-wife) of $6,500,000.00. Manufacturer settled without appeal. Believed to be largest single injury verdict in Shelby County history. $500,000.00 awarded ex-wife is largest loss of companionship jury verdict in West Tennessee. Mr. Hill of Hill Boren and Mr. Ralph Chapman of Chapman, Lewis & Swan, Clarksdale, Mississippi, represented plaintiff worker.
