Facts

John Cooper, a general contractor, decided to workout at the 24 Hour Fitness gym on December 24, 2015. Cooper, then 70-years old, was preparing to use the Excite TOP upper body trainer, a machine with a completely removable seat that slides back and forth along a track. To adjust the seat, Cooper sat on it and pulled the handle underneath the seat. However, the seat slid completely off the track and Cooper fell, sustaining injuries. Cooper filed suit in Alameda Superior for strict products liability, negligence-products liability, breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and negligence against Technogym USA (Excite TOP's distributor), 24 Hour Fitness and others. Mr. Cooper was 78-years old at the time of trial and design defect strict liability was the only claim tried against Technogym USA, the only remaining defendant.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that he used the product as intended and in a reasonably foreseeable manner, and that the product was defectively designed. There were no warnings or instructions that would cause users to believe that the seat would slide rapidly backwards and completely off of the machine. Moreover, defendant was aware of the defect and that the defect posed substantial risk of injury to users. Plaintiff did not claim any economic damages, and only made claims for non-economic damages.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended that not only was the machine not defective, plaintiff already had a compromised spine due to his age and from years of working in the construction industry. Thus the surgeries were a result of degeneration from age and his prior work rather than any purported defect of the product. Plaintiff had never used the subject machine before the December 24, 2015 incident. At the time of the incident, he, his wife and teenage son were engaged in a competition to see who could be the fastest and obtain the highest RPMs while rotating the handles of the machine. The wife and son competed first without incident while the plaintiff watched. He then jumped onto the machine and began competing and attempted to adjust the seat while doing so and it went backward, and he fell onto the floor. Plaintiff owns his own construction company and has continued to work since the incident and has no plans to retire.

Injuries

Plaintiff sustained a concussion and injuries to his cervical and lumbar spine for which he was treated with a C4-6 fusion and an L4-5 fusion. In the future, he will likely require another cervical infusion.

Result

The jury found that defendant Technogym USA sold or distributed Excite TOP, which was defectively designed and failed to perform as safely as a reasonable user would expect, and that its design substantially caused harm to plaintiff. They also found malice on the part of Technogym USA's officers or directors. The jury awarded $15 million in past non-economic damages and $25 million in future non-economic damages on April 3, 2023. The parties agreed to a $40 million settlement following the verdict and prior to the punitive damages phase of the trial.