Personal Injury Case Report – Product Liability – Burn Injury

Defective Citronella Candle – Burn Injury to Leg; $80,000.00

NATURE OF CASE:

Product Liability; Defective citronella torch candle.

INJURIES ALLEGED:

Second degree burns to calf.

NAME OF CASE:

Withheld.

AMOUNT OF AWARD/SETTLEMENT:

$80,000.00

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS:

Eric J. Parker, Esq., Parker|Scheer Attorneys, Boston, Massachusetts

CASE SUMMARY:

On June 22, 1997, the Plaintiff was attending a baby shower at a friend’s home in Randolph, Massachusetts. To get relief from the hot and muggy weather, the plaintiff sat under a tree approximately 12 feet from an outdoor cement patio. As darkness fell, citronella torches, manufactured by the defendant, were placed around the cement patio by the homeowner and ignited. When one of the torches unexpectedly extinguished, the homeowner relit the torch. Upon relighting the torch, a ball of hot wax shot from the torch and struck the plaintiff’s left leg, melting her stockings and burning her about the area of her left calf.

The plaintiff obtained emergency medical treatment and was diagnosed with second-degree burns to the calf of her left leg. As a result of her burns, the plaintiff was left with some hypo-pigmentation about the affected area, but was not a candidate for scar revision.

During the course of the plaintiff’s case investigation, plaintiff’s counsel learned that the subject candles had been the subject of a product recall by the defendant manufacturer, which led directly to settlement negotiations.

Total special damages, including medical expenses, were $1,789.

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