Facts

A Wawanesa General Insurance Co. policyholder's home sustained damage from a fire on Jan. 28, 2005. Wawanesa paid the policyholder and sued Applica Consumer Products Inc., the distributor of a Black & Decker TRO360TY6 toaster oven, for products liability.

Wawanesa asserted that the toaster oven caused the fire.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that a door switch on the toaster oven fused, and caused the oven to stay on, which ultimately caused a fire.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that a gas stove created the fire and that the toaster oven was not defective.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff demanded $100,000 and the defendant offered $35,000, which later decreased to $5,000.

Damages

Wawanesa requested $266,000 in damages.

Result

The jury found in favor of the defense.

Other Information

Defendant received an adverse inference jury instruction based upon spoliation of evidence. Specifically, at trial, the court found that the fire experts retained by plaintiff Wawanesa Insurance company committed a spoliation of evidence by failing to retain other potential causes of the fire (the stove and appliances) for inspection by Applica and causing further damage to the Applica toaster oven by shipping the damaged toaster oven via UPS prior to allowing a joint inspection.

Deliberation

22 minutes

Poll

8-0

Length

four days