PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania man stands by allegations that he suffered severe burns on the tops of his feet, after a session in an infrared sauna therapy booth in a Pittsburgh business.
Alphonso Muhammad of Munhall first filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 11 versus Full Body Balance of Pittsburgh, plus Jessica Roberts and Neil Nichols of Weirton, W.Va.
According to the litigation, defendants Roberts and Nichols maintained a “Negative Ion” store in the Robinson Mall in Pittsburgh.
“Full Body is a wellness store that works with negative ion treatment and other services, including a Himalayan salt cave and infrared sauna therapy booths. The infrared sauna is a small booth-like object that the patron sits in as it heats up. The booth has a heating element at the base that increases the temperature in the booth to elicit enough heat to cause the patron to sweat,” the suit said.
“On Nov. 29, 2019, Muhammad paid to use one of the aforementioned booths at Full Body. Muhammad’s shoes were on while using the booth, but he still experienced extreme heat on the tops of his feet that resulted in burns. Muhammad only sat in the booth for the recommended amount of time, which is 30 minutes. Full Body failed to inspect the booth to ensure that it was functioning properly. Full Body did not properly warn Muhammad or other patrons of the dangers of using the booth.”
Muhammad added that after using the booth, he went home and noticed that he was experiencing pain on the tops of his feet. At home, he took off his shoes and discovered that his feet had burn blisters on the tops.
“Muhammad made an appointment with his primary care physician at South Hills Family Medicine on Dec. 12, 2019. A doctor at Hills Family Medicine prescribed Muhammad both Keflex and Silvadene for 10 days, which he was to apply daily on his burns. Muhammad’s feet continued to blister and did not improve with the use of the prescribed medication. Muhammad’s primary care physician instructed him to attend wound care for his injuries,” per the suit.
“On Dec. 16, 2019, Muhammad obtained wound care at Jefferson Wound Care Center. At Jefferson Wound Care Center, Muhammad’s wounds were dressed in santyl adaptic 4x4’s and covered in gauze. Muhammad required dressing changes and increased medication to cope with the pain associated with the burns he received from using the booth at Full Body. Currently, Mr. Mohammad continues to suffer from the effects of the incident.”
The suit accused the defendants of failing to maintain temperatures in the booth to be safe for invitees use, allowing the infrared heater to get too hot for use by patron/invitees and failing to monitor the infrared sauna booth units following their maintenance to ensure that they were functioning correctly.
The defendants filed an answer to the complaint along with new matter on Jan. 27, which denied the substance of the plaintiff’s allegations and provided a number of affirmative defenses in the aforementioned new matter.
“Plaintiff fails to state a claim, in all or in part, upon which relief may be granted. Plaintiff’s claims, in whole or in part, are barred by the applicable statute of limitations, the doctrines of waiver, laches, consent, release, contributory negligence, comparative negligence and/or assumption of the risk, his own conduct and the Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act,” the answer stated.
“To the extent discovery reveals, plaintiff’s alleged injuries and damages were caused solely and/or exclusively by circumstances over which the defendants did not have control and/or responsibility and/or intervening, superseding, and/or independent causes over which defendants did not have control and/or responsibility and not in any manner whatsoever by the action of defendants. Plaintiff’s claims are barred and/or limited by his failure to mitigate damages. It is denied that all of the alleged injuries and damages alleged in plaintiff’s complaint.”
UPDATE
The plaintiff filed a reply to the defendants’ new matter on April 20.
“Paragraphs 42-54 of defendants’ new matter states a conclusion of law to which no response is required. In the event any response is deemed to be required, the averments of this paragraph are denied, and strict proof thereof is demanded at the time of trial,” according to the plaintiff’s reply.
For a lone count of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory and consequential damages from the defendants in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional arbitration limits, together with interest, costs of suit and any other relief this Honorable Court deems appropriate to recover for which this suit is filed, in addition to a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Mark D. Troyan of Robert Peirce & Associates, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by Thomas A. Steele and Eric G. VanKirk of Peacock Keller, in Washington, Pa.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-21-012464
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com