Producers need strategy to counter fire lawsuits
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2004
Greensboro, N.C. — Greensboro, N.C.— With an average of two upholstery fires daily in the United States, seating makers are always at risk for a devastating lawsuit, according to a lawyer who's been involved in such litigation.
To minimize lawsuits, attorney John Garvey of Sulloway & Hollis in Concord, N.H., advised participants at the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn.'s Flammability Workshop here last week to practice risk management, which can reduce a company's chance of having to make a huge payout if one of its products is linked to a damaging fire.
For companies that don't have a plan, he suggested contacting an attorney with product liability and regulatoy experience who can examine existing practices and document management's concern about safety and reasonable actions taken to prevent injuries or deaths. "This lawyer will help you create guidelines to defend what might be coming at you," he said.
After a morning of hearing about ways to make furniture safer, Garvey's afternoon presentation was a sober reminder of the damage that can result from fires. He showed newspaper clips describing fatal fires and played videos of burned-out homes and heart-breaking scenes of children scarred by serious burns, the latter actually sent to manufacturers by plaintiffs' attorneys as a warning of what they could face if a suit ends up in court.
"What they can accuse you of is pretty horrendous and can make you feel worse than (Osama) bin Laden," Garvey said.
He said personal injury lawyers have lots of ammunition at their disposal — photographs from fire marshals and burn units, information on similar cases from the American Trial Lawyers Assn.'s Web site, and even the flammability warnings attached to materials like urethane foam, which indicate a risk of injury.
Garvey went through a litany of questions that manufacturers should ask about their liability. He advised them to make a product suitable for their own families. "Ask yourself," he said, "is it as safe as it can be and still keep your people in business?"
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