Foster v. Catalina Industries, Inc., et al.

Product Liability - Halogen Floor Lamp - Electrocution - Wrongful Death of 4-year-old child. Plaintiff claimed that Conor Foster, age 4, was electrocuted when he touched a halogen floor lamp while lying on an airconditioning vent. Investigators could find nothing wrong with the lamp but two years later the child's father was shocked in much the same manner. When the lamp was checked again, it was determined that the base of the lamp was energized any time the lamp was plugged in. The lamp had been purchased from a Best Products store in Montana in 1992. That company had gone bankrupt in the intervening years. Investigation of the source of the lamp indicated that it was manufactured by Catalina Industries Inc. or Grandrich Corp. in Taiwan.

Defendants stipulated that the lamp was defective and had caused the child's death but denied that they had manufactured or the lamp in question. Grandrich asserted that it knew where all 9,006 of the lamps manufactured by it were located and the Foster lamp was not one of its lamps. Catalina was not able to account for all of the units manufactured it and sold to Best Products.

Plaintiff's verdict for $15 million.

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