THE GAS WATER HEATER CASE

The Claim:

An Alabama woman was awarded $250,000 in punitive damages, even though she was not injured and not even present when a gas water heater malfunctioned.

The Truth:

This version of the case neglects these facts:

Ruth McCord's grandson Dexter purchased a water heater and installed it in Ruth's mobile home in November 1989. No instructions or installation manuals were attached. Noticing a gas smell in the house a few weeks later, a member of Ruth's family called the gas supplier. A service person came to inspect the furnace, but did not realize that the heater was improperly installed.

Two days later, four family members (Louisiana, 50; Joyce, 17; Janice, 13; Felicia, 15) were overcome by carbon monoxide while they slept. Joyce died, while the other three incurred over $13,000 in medical expenses. Louisiana has permanent shortness of breath and occasional nausea.

Ruth, though not present the night her family members fell unconscious because she was in the hospital to have an unrelated problem addressed, also suffered respiratory injury from the weeks breathing these vapors and incurred $13,300 in medical expenses.

The families sued the manufacturer and Sears, alleging that the water heater was defectively designed in that it lacked a common carbon monoxide sensor, a safety shut-off device, and warnings regarding carbon monoxide and the need for ventilation. They also asserted that the manufacturer's instruction manual had not been permanently attached to the heater when it was new -- a violation of American National Standards Institute guidelines.

The jury awarded both compensatory and punitive damages in this case, including $250,000 in punitive damages to Ruth. While Ruth may not have been present the exact evening when the four family member succumbed to the gas, she did spend a number of weeks in her residence breathing in these harmful vapors. To claim she wasn't injured or present when the heater was malfunctioning is an obvious distortion of the facts.

Cite: McCord v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., No. CV-90-35 Ala. (Lowndes County Cir. Ct. Feb. 27, 1992).