WRONGFUL DEATH DUE TO DEFECTIVE PRODUCT AND DANGEROUS PREMISES IN SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: ATTORNEY OBTAINS SIGNIFICANT SETTLEMENT
We recently settled a wrongful death case where our client's husband was electrocuted when he plugged in a defective product he purchased from a second hand store, into an incorrectly wired electrical outlet that was in the home he was renting in the San Fernando Valley, County of Los Angeles, California.
In addition to her wrongful death claim, our client had a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress damages because she witnessed the horrific event.
We sued the manufacturer of the defective ultrasonic cleaning product and the store that sold it for product liability as well as the owner of the rental home for negligence and premises liability.
We hired a well known professor of Electrical Power Engineering from a prestigious university to inspect the ultrasonic cleaner and the electrical outlet that it was plugged into. This expert concluded that the electrocution occurred because the electrical outlet was reversed wired, and the ultrasonic cleaner contained an interior exposed wire which came in contact with the metal casing of the product. These factors combined to electrically charge the outside of the product, causing our client's husband to die by electrocution when he picked it up.
The homeowner, who we proved hired a handyman who negligently wired the electrical outlet, had a homeowner's insurance policy for $300,000. We were successful in forcing the insurance company to pay the entire policy to settle the case. We also collected a significant sum of money from the manufacturer and seller of the product.
