$7 Million Products Liability Settlement in Arkansas
An Arkansas woman whose husband died of smoke inhalation and burns in a camper fire resulting from a refrigerator defect settled her lawsuit against Norcold Refrigerators and a camper dealership for $7 million last week.
The cause of the fire was cracked tubing in the camper's Norcold refrigerator, which resulted in the leaking of flammable hydrogen. Norcold apparently knew of the potential fire hazard as early as 1999 and notified federal officials that it would be recalling more than 40,000 refrigerators. Much like the “FDA approved the drug” defense I have been blogging about in recent months, Norcold contended that it followed federal regulations in conducting the recall.
But the Plaintiff did not receive a recall notice until 6 years after Norcold knew of the defect. Norcold could have found the owners of all the campers by checking their Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN), but it did not do that until late 2004, too late to get notice out to the Plaintiff. In a tragic irony, Plaintiff received the recall notice seven months after the accident.
Plaintiff’s attorney in this case deserves a lot of praise. This is the only lawsuit ever filed against this company for this product, although you can be virtually certain it has killed many others (and there are still 12,000 of these refrigerators that have not yet been recalled). Many of the best products liability and medical malpractice cases our lawyers have had were accident cases like this, the cases that other lawyers rejected because they really did not want to turn over a lot of stones to figure out what really happened. But it is the turning of these stones that brings about not only justice for the individual Plaintiff, but it further provides the checks and balances that are required to make sure that companies keep their products safe. You can bet next time Norcold has a problem with one of its products that creates a public safety risk, they will respond with a lot more haste and diligence than they did in this case.
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Comments
I applaud the vigor of the attornies in this case. We lost our RV to an identical fire, even through our RV was inspected and the refrigerator repaired just months before our fire. Our serial number was a few numbers outside the range of the recall - the manufacturer's attitude was "why call us? You're not in the recall range."
Posted by: Wes Carter | August 12, 2006 1:05 AM
Ronald,
Who was the attorney who settled the Norcold refrigerator case for 7 million in Arkansas? We have a similar case and would like to talk to the attorney involved.
Also, I would be interested in learning more about the refrigerator fire mentioned in Wes Carter's comment to your posting.
Karen M. Davis
The Pardieck Law Firm
Seymour, Indiana
Posted by: Karen Davis | December 8, 2006 3:57 PM
July we had our 5th wh. plugged into shore power and cooling the refrig getting it ready for a trip. That evening the 5th caught on fire and burned to the ground. The rig was 11/2 years new and used 4 times. That fire ingulfed the truck a shed 2 boats and a comp. vehicle. We have been trying to talk with the mfg. Keystone. They tell us we don't have a case. They had refused to send their investigators out . We had a fire investigator that could not pin point the exact appliance because of the total distruction but out lined the fact it was electrical.Our ins. payed market value for the 5r and truck, also we are out a lot of money for the boats and equipment in the shed. We feel Keystone should take some responsiblity for this fire as it was proved it was not arson. Isn't there something like a consumer law or a breach of implied warranty that would work in a law suit? We could have easly been killed in that fire. The refrig was a Norcold. We would appreciate any help. We just don't know what way to turn. Thank you in advance.
Posted by: Lorna Hylton | December 19, 2006 7:47 PM
I bought a Norcold N641R to replace a old norcold. When it was installed we found that it had a bad board it it. We were told by Norcold to take it to a warranty dealer to have it serviced. The closest one to us refered us to another service dealer. Come to find out that this place did not service norcold warranty, due to unknown problems with Norcold. When you have a RV and on the road what do you do? I paid $897 for a new refrigator and then had to pay $506 to get it repaired. I should have told them to pull the unit back out and send it back to Norcold. But I though that Norcold would stand behind there product. Sorry but shame on me. I'll not buy anything from Thetford/ Norcold again. They say it was a problem with my batteries. Buyer beware of THETFORD/NORCOLD!!
Posted by: Larry Bending | January 9, 2007 2:17 PM
Ron, a friend of mine just sent me to your blog (admittedly two years after your post). Nevertheless, it is impressive and informative. I am the plaintiff's attorney who represented the lady (actually from IL not AR) in the case you discussed against Norcold. On behalf of myself, my law firm, and most importantly, my client, I appreciate your efforts in spreading the word on dangerous products and the need for corporate accountability. Thank you.
Posted by: Troy E. Walton | May 29, 2008 4:38 PM
I have a New Vision that was made in 1998.In September of 2007 a fire erupted
in or on the backside of the norcold
ref.The resulting fire made it uninhabitable
It completeley gutted the upper part.Had I
been informed of this problem,BERORE
it was a problem than I would still have my
place to live in.Because it was sitting on a
private lot and not being moved,I didn't keep insurance on it.Should I still have to
live off of other people because of a problem caused by a part manufacturer to the home that I lived in?
Posted by: ERBrock | September 23, 2008 8:53 PM