PHILADELPHIA – A man who suffered right index finger amputation and crush injuries from an allegedly malfunctioning portable generator has sued the manufacturer and distributor of the device, Lowe’s Home Centers.
Brenden Hires of Langhorne filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on April 27, versus Generac Power Systems, Inc. of Waukesha, Wis., Lowe’s Home Improvement, LLC (doing business as “Lowe’s of Middletown Township”) of Langhorne, Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc. of Mooresville, N.C. and John Does 1-5.
The case was then removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 21, due to diversity of citizenship between the parties.
According to Hires, he purchased the Generac power generator Model XT8000E at the defendant store in Middletown Township last November.
“On or about Nov. 21, 2019, plaintiff was at his home in Langhorne. The portable generator at issue was on the back of plaintiff’s truck. Plaintiff and plaintiff’s assistant attempted to move the portable generator at issue from the back of the truck when the portable generator began to drop,” the suit states.
“As the generator began to drop, due to the negligence and wrongdoing of defendants, and the defective condition of the aforementioned portable generator, suddenly and without warning, the handle caught on the vehicle and swung up and plaintiff experienced amputation and traumatic crush injury to the index finger of his right hand and further causing him to suffer severe and grievous injuries.”
The plaintiff claims the defendants violated the standards created in Tincher v. Omega Flex and the Second Restatement of Torts, by manufacturing, distributing and selling a defective product which caused the injuries as suffered by Hires.
For multiple counts of strict liability, negligence and breach of warranty against each individual defendant, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, and also from each individual defendant, in addition to a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Brandon A. Swartz, Bryan Michael Ferris and Matthew J. McElvenny of Swartz Culleton, in Newtown.
Defendant Generac Power Systems, Inc. is represented by Christopher G. Mavros and Theodore M. Schaer of Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, in Philadelphia. The remaining defendants do not yet have legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-02399
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 200401341
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com