Defective Products & Consumer Goods

Jury verdict against General Motors affirmed on appeal, in a case where an improperly designed car allowed fumes from the engine to enter the passenger compartment, explode, and severely burn the driver.

Following an automobile accident, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected General Motors’ appeal from a jury verdict that awarded damages to the two occupants injured by the faulty design of the car in which they were riding. SUGARMAN lawyers successfully argued that there were three defects in the car, each of which would be sufficient to cause the crash on its own.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a jury verdict to a SUGARMAN client for injuries caused by a defectively designed laundry machine. The case established precedent allowing into evidence safety changes made after the manufacture of the defective machine.

Under the long-arm statute, the court had jurisdiction over the defendant, a California corporation, which manufactured and sold its products in Massachusetts, where the plaintiff resided. The decision allowed SUGARMAN lawyers to bring a claim in Massachusetts on behalf of our client.