Trial lawyers successfully sue on behalf of people who poured gasoline onto fires.
This is completely ridiculous, but it appears to be how our current legal system works.
The Wall St. Journal reports:
“Until recently, Blitz USA—the nation’s No. 1 consumer gasoline-can producer, based in Miami, Oklahoma—was doing fine… Then the trial attorneys hit on an idea with trial-lawyer logic: They could sue Blitz when someone poured gas on a fire (for instance, to rekindle the flame) and the can exploded… Blitz paid around $30 million to defend itself, a substantial sum for a small company. Of course, Blitz’s product liability insurance costs spiked. In June, Blitz filed for bankruptcy. All 117 employees will lose their jobs…”
Something needs to be changed to our laws to prevent this kind of absurdity from happening.
Peter Goodson replied:
I am sure this is just a rare case
October 10, 2012 at 7:21 pm. Permalink.