People across the country purchase portable heaters in cold weather or portable fans or air-conditioners in warmer weather to supplement their central heating or cooling systems. Though most consumers justifiably assume that these products are safe, many of them contain defects that can cause injury to those who use them. In early 2015, for example, Sunbeam Products, Inc. recalled approximately 34,000 Chinese-manufactured Holmes Oil-filled Heaters after receiving at least 40 reports that the heaters (which resemble small radiators) sprayed hot oil, posing a scalding hazard to nearby children and adults.
Defective appliances, equipment, and other products have the potential to cause serious injury or death to household occupants. The Killino Firm’s defective-products lawyers have extensive experience with cases arising out of injuries and deaths caused by defective household and other products. If you have been injured or one of your loved ones has died from exposure to a dangerous and defective product, contact The Killino Firm for more information about your legal rights and options.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Injuries Caused by Defective Household Appliances and Other Products?
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in addition to burns, electric shock, and carbon-monoxide (CO) poisonings, space heaters cause thousands of fires every year, many of which result in home occupants’ injuries and deaths. When a defect in a heater is found to have been a cause of a consumer’s injury or death, the manufacturer, distributor, and other entities involved in the heater’s production and distribution may be found strictly liable in a products-liability action for the consequent damages suffered by the injured consumer or deceased consumer’s survivors.
Products-liability defendants, which may include product designers, manufacturers, parts suppliers, product assemblers, wholesalers, and retailers of products, may be found “strictly liable,” which means liability without proof of negligence, for accident injuries and deaths caused by defects in products’ design, manufacture, or warnings and instructions. Thus, a space heater that sprays heated oil or electrically shocks consumers who touch it, for instance, may be found defective in its design or manufacture if the heater is shown to have contained the defect that caused its malfunction at the time the heater was sold. If, on the other hand, a heater is found to have burned a consumer because the consumer damaged the heater after its sale or to have electrocuted the consumer because the cord was frayed due to the consumer’s own actions, the heater’s producers and distributors will be protected from strict liability for such injuries.
Obtain Legal Assistance from The Killino Firm, P.C.
The Killino Firm has received national recognition for its skillful representation of clients who have been injured by dangerous and defective products. If you have been injured or one of your family members has died as a result of an accident caused by one of these products, The Killino Firm can help you obtain the justice you deserve from the parties responsible for your injuries or loved one’s death.
