Posted on 07/31/2012 10:45:16 AM PDT by AdamBomb
MIAMI, Okla. - Product liability lawsuits have extinguished an Ottawa County gasoline can manufacturer, says Rocky Flick, owner and chief operating officer of Blitz U.S.A.
Blitz U.S.A./F3 Brands in Miami filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 9. On Monday, the company said it will close its doors July 31 and lay off 117 people.
[snip]
The lawsuits that doomed Blitz mostly centered on individuals pouring gasoline out of a can onto an open fire, with the vapors igniting and causing injuries.
Three warnings about not mixing gasoline and fire, in addition to other safety precautions, are displayed predominately on the red plastic cans.
[snip]
The company went to trial in two cases, winning one lawsuit and losing the other, a $4 million verdict involving the death of a 4-year-old girl.
The jury found Blitz 70 percent liable, Flick said.
The child was living in a camper in Utah when her father poured gasoline into a wood stove, which ignited, he said.
[snip]
Blitz has about 70 percent of the market selling gas cans, Flick said.
(Excerpt) Read more at tulsaworld.com ...
Or can you suggest any other way that the plastic cans would negligently harm me?
What if I ate the can with gasoline in it?
That’s nothing. I disconnected my air bags without Government permission. I once stepped on the top rung of a ladder. I’ve also removed the guard on a power mitre saw. I sort of wanted to actually see what I was cutting.
Well, you have to figure that maybe the reason the other guy won the lawsuit was just the sympathy factor his story had with the jury. So, if you can figure out a way that misuse of a Blitz can could harm some cute furry animals like chipmunks or bunny rabbits, that might win you some points.
I'd call that a seriously dumb jury. They completely drove this guy out of business and put people out of work for a third party's stupidity.
I agree. The price of gas cans went up quite a bit some time back. Maybe 3 years ago? I’m not exactly sure of the time frame, as I noticed the jump two springs ago (I think!) while looking for a spare. I figured it must be due mostly to regulations and lawsuits. The cost of the plastic HAS gone up, but not nearly enough to explain the retail price increase.
Flick said once the first lawsuit was settled, the floodgates of litigation were opened.
"The insurance company thought it was best to settle," Flick said. "The first lawsuit settled for around $1 million, the last lawsuit for around $10 million, but most of the lawsuits were between $5 million to $10 million."
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=461&articleid=20120724_461_E2_MIAMIO729269
I worked for many years at a company that for a time had over 300 employees. It was a pretty low margins manufacturing business; I don't know if we could have survived $10 million in lawsuits over a few years. How Blitz hung on as long as they did raises my eyebrow.
As for the product, I'll bet that all the financial turmoil, didn't help. I have a couple of Blitz cans from years past, and while the no-separate-vent-cap design doesn't thrill me, none have ever leaked, and at least the variant I have doesn't puff up in the sun or heat.
That ain’t for gas. That’s for Apple Pie!
Apparently a rich one, thanks to moron jurors or moron judges.
Although the ambulance chasers are right up there, too.
Only in America, believe it or not! Several months ago I bought three red, plastic five gallon gas cans, I do believe at the time the price for same was about $ 8.75 per can. Every so often while shopping at the same hardware stores where I initially bought these gas cans I kept glancing at the price for these gas cans and could not figure out why in the world the price of same kept on going up and up and now I know.
It took a stupid jury and a judge just as dumb to put this company out of business. Had I been the judge and the jury came back with such a verdict putting 70% of the blame on the manufacturer, I would have told them to go home and get out on the other side of bed and then come back again. And the judge who let this verdict stand is about on the same level as this dumb ass who poured gas on to a fire. Hard to believe, but there are judges and judges and some of the “Other” kind are allowed to pass judgment on a variety of things including their fellow man.
I suspect the wood-stove manufacturer was assigned liability for the other 30%...
I don’t have a problem with the nozzle being strait through, because I never store gas. All of my equipment holds more than five gallons so I always empty the entire can. Those nozzles made it particularly difficult to fill my farm tractor with diesel because you had to balance on top of the front tire holding the 40lb can while manipulating the nozzle. I usually end up spilling about a gallon. But I’m sure that’s much better for the environment.
You still have to transport thr fuel, and to do that in a can that is not sealed is a violation of both state and federal laws, as well as quite dangerous.
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