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CASE TITLE: BENJAMIN VS. THE COLEMAN COMPANY, INC., LANE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, CASE NO. 16-99-13699, EUGENE, OREGON

CASE SUMMARY REPORTED BY:
MARK N. STAGEBERG
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF
5101 THIMSEN AVENUE
SUITE 201
MINNETONKA, MN 55345
800/340-5242
952-470-5242
Fax: 952-470-5240
E-mail: stageberglaw@cs.com
Web Site: http://www.stageberglaw.com

Charles Schoggins, age 39, died of carbon monoxide poisoning on October 16, 1996. Mr. Schoggins was a construction worker who was temporarily staying in a tent at a home construction site in a small Oregon town near Eugene. A Coleman Focus 15 bulk-mount propane heater, owned by another construction worker, had been used by the owner and other construction workers inside their tents prior to the evening of Mr. Schoggins accident. On a cold and damp evening Mr. Schoggins borrowed the propane heater as he retired into a nylon tent. Mr. Schoggins, who had been drinking with co-workers that afternoon and evening, fell asleep with the heater operating within the tent. In the morning, he was found dead inside the tent with the tent flaps and windows closed. An autopsy found a very high level of carbon monoxide in his blood. Mr. Schoggins left surviving an adult daughter and a 1½-month-old son. The wrongful death action was brought on behalf of the two surviving children. Product liability claims against The Coleman Company contended that the heater was defective in its design and unreasonably dangerous, that it was negligently designed, and that it was sold with inadequate instructions and warnings.
Expert testimony was presented by Robert Engberg, a mechanical engineer in Minneapolis specializing in gas and propane products, Dr. Tarold Kvalseth, University of Minnesota mechanical engineer and human factors expert, and David G. Penney, Ph.D., carbon monoxide specialist from Wayne State University. After 8 days of trial, the 12-person Lane County jury, after a short two hours of deliberation, returned its verdict for the Plaintiff on December 17, 1999. The verdict found no contributory negligence on the part of Mr. Schoggins, found the Focus 15 heater to be defective, found Coleman to be negligent as to the heater design, and that the heater was sold with inadequate instructions and warnings. The damage award for the two children of Mr. Schoggins was in the sum of $769,000.

The verdict and findings against Coleman were affirmed on appeal by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Benjamin v. Wal-Mart Stores, 185 Or. App. 444, 61 P.3d 257 (2002)

CASE TITLE: COVAS VS. THE COLEMAN COMPANY, INC. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA, CASE NO. 00-08541-CIV, MIAMI, FLORIDA

CASE SUMMARY REPORTED BY:
MARK N. Stageberg
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF
5101 THIMSEN AVENUE
SUITE 201
MINNETONKA, MN 55345
800/340-5242
952/470-5242
Fax: 952/470-5240
E-mail: Stageberglaw@cs.com
Web Site: http://www.stageberglaw.com

Over Thanksgiving weekend 1999, Pedro Covas, a 41-year old electrician from West Palm Beach, Florida, and his 16-year old stepson were camping in a tent in a hunting area in northern Florida. They had used inside their tent a Coleman manufactured Focus 5 propane radiant heater and were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. Autopsies of both decedents found very high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood. A product liability lawsuit was brought against the Coleman Company alleging that the Focus 5 heater was defective and unreasonably dangerous because of its design and that it provided inadequate warnings of the carbon monoxide hazard. The jury accepted the plaintiff’s claim that because of its design, the Focus 5 heater allowed it to become contaminated and which altered the propane and air mixture resulting in high levels of carbon monoxide being produced. Critical evidence in the case were a series of tests conducted by Coleman’s engineers which fully supported the plaintiff’s theory that a blockage of the propane flow resulted in high levels of carbon monoxide. Expert testimony was presented by mechanical engineer and safety expert, Gary Hutter, Ph.D. regarding the defective design, inadequate warnings and causation of the deaths. At the conclusion of 9 days of trial, the 8-person federal court jury awarded the wife and mother of the decedents $10.1 million with a finding that Mr. Covas was 25% at fault and the boy 5% at fault. With the reduction for the comparative negligence, the net verdict was $7.6 million. Coleman’s appeal on many issues to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was summarily and quickly rejected with a 3-page appellate decision. With interest, Coleman paid over $8 million on the judgment award.