PHILADELPHIA – In a state court lawsuit, a plaintiff argues that he suffered second- and third-degree burns to his left leg after a pair of lithium ion batteries intended to be used to power an e-cigarette lighter exploded in his pants pocket.
Douglas Paulson of Lancaster filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 20, 2017 versus LG Chem America, Inc. of Harrisburg, LG Chem Michigan, Inc. and LG Chem Power, Inc. of Wilmington, Del. and LG Hausys America, Inc. of Lawrenceville, N.J.
(Originally, One Step Above, LLC of Lancaster was a named defendant, but it was dismissed from the litigation on July 30.)
“Plaintiff Doug Paulson purchased 18650 LG Chem Li-Ion Batteries from defendant One Step Above for use in his e-cigarette. On Nov. 24, 2015, two 18650 LG Chem Li-Ion Batteries, purchased from One Step Above, that were in Mr. Paulson’s pants pocket exploded and caught fire. As a result, Mr. Paulson’s pants and left leg were severely burned,” according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff and his counsel argue the batteries were defectively designed, manufactured, distributed and sold by the defendants, constituting both negligence-related liability and a breach of the product’s warranty.
Counsel for the defendants filed preliminary objections to the complaint on June 21, citing a lack of personal jurisdiction and no minimum contacts for the defendants to Pennsylvania, alleging it fails to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and argued the defendants were served with the complaint improperly.
Both plaintiff and defense counsel further filed a joint motion for continuance of a hearing originally scheduled for Sept. 20, regarding discovery procedures and the necessary taking of three additional depositions. Due to the “busy schedules of counsel and the witnesses, it has taken longer than anticipated to schedule and complete said depositions and exchange discovery” and thus, all counsel asked for a postponement of the hearing in order to complete that same discovery and depositions.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shelley Robins-New authorized the continuance and slated arguments on the preliminary objections for Oct. 25.
For counts of negligence, strict liability and breach of warranty, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus costs, interest, compensatory damages and all other damages allowed by law.
The plaintiff is represented by Kenneth F. Fulginiti and in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Donald H. Smith of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, in Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 171102000
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com