Posted on 12/26/2005 6:24:10 AM PST by Drew68
By NICK DIVITO
and DON SINGLETON
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
The daughters of a Brooklyn woman who died of burns after puncturing a clogged aerosol can of Aquanet hair spray have filed a wrongful death suit against the manufacturer.
The victim, Lorraine Squicciarini, died in horrible pain on Dec. 14, 2003, one day after she tried to apply Aquanet to her hair as she did daily.
When the can's nozzle became clogged after she had sprayed on some of the product, Squicciarini picked up a can opener from a kitchen drawer, according to court papers filed in the Brooklyn Supreme Court suit.
"With the can opener, Lorraine Squicciarini opened a hole in the bottom of the Aquanet can in an attempt to clear the nozzle," according to the complaint. "The contents, including vapors and highly flammable and explosive materials," spurted from the can.
"The pilot light of the gas range ignited it," said the family's lawyer, David Schoen. "She soon became engulfed in flames, turning her whole body, virtually from head to toe, into a ball of fire."
Neighbors responding to Squicciarini's screams put her in a shower, but she wound up "in excruciating pain," with "80% of her skin burned off," Schoen said.
Squicciarini spent the last hours of her life in the burn unit of a Staten Island hospital, begging to die "to be relieved of the pain," Schoen said.
The suit against Unilever USA by Lorraine Squicciarini's daughters, Barbara Squicciarini of Staten Island and Marisa Ciancimino of Hazlet, N.J., does not specify damages, but Schoen said he will seek $10 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages.
Schoen said the daughters base their suit on alleged manufacturing and design defects and inadequate warning and instruction labeling, as well as the trauma they suffered as a result of the tragedy.
"It happened two years ago, and one of the daughters still cannot sleep properly because of what happened to her mother," the lawyer said.
Schoen said he researched earlier cases of injuries involving Aquanet and determined "the printed warning against puncturing the can, which was insufficient then, remains insufficient."
Unilever USA did not respond to requests for comment.
So9
Doesn't every aerosol can ever made say right on it, in ALL CAPS, "Do not punture or incinerate can!" ?
I'd say they've got no case.
Puncture.
"Unilever USA did not respond to requests for comment - because they're still laughing!"
Okay - I added the last part, but I bet they are.
While I'm sorry for the horrible way this woman died I don't see how the hair spray company was at fault. The woman was pretty damn ignorant to puncture a hairspray can, especially in the area of a pilot light.
What an idiot. I'm sorry for her pain, but there are penalities for acting stupidly. I trust that the judge will throw out the suit.
Well, maybe the family can sue the public schools she attended because they didn't teach her to read!
Someone's gotta have a list for this.
Mistakes were made. I remember when I was a kid we used to use that stuff for a flame thrower at fire ants.
Let's hope the courts do the right thing. After all, who thinks that opening a hair spray can with a can opener is a smart thing to do?
Doesn't sound right to me...tough way to go though...sympathies to the family.
What a horrible story. I'm not understanding if she intentionally put a hole in the bottom of the can, or it happened accidently while she was trying to unclog the nozzle part. I'm wondering if it's poor writing causing the confusion, or if she really did intentionally put a hole in it. If so, WHY??
My ex-wife uses pump hairspray. Just Damn.
Let's hope the courts do the right thing. After all, who thinks that opening a hair spray can with a can opener is a smart thing to do?
"Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity." --Robert Heinlein
I've used Aqua Net as propellant for a spud gun. Works pretty well. Heck, in a pinch you could probably use the stuff as starter fluid for your carburetor.
When my hairspray nozzle gets sticky, I run warm water over it.
I'm very sorry about the lady's painful demise. She must have had dementia to do something so foolish with a product she'd been using for many years. I don't think anyone under the age of 80 uses Aquanet!
Maybe she thought she could pour it on? Maybe she's originally from Texas? (you know, going for big hair)
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