$11 Million St Clair County Settlement
CASE: Confidential
VENUE: St. Clair County, IL
SETTLEMENT: $11 Million
DATE: June 15, 2019
Our client was a woman in her late-50’s who was recovering from back surgery. She purchased a shower stool online, which the Defendant represented to be manufactured with high-quality materials and completely safe. It broke. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. The defendant refused to give her a refund, and was only willing to replace the original product.
Then it broke again, and this time she wasn’t so lucky. She fractured her sacrum, and other preexisting hardware in her back. She was left with permanent, debilitating pain and now uses a spinal stimulator.
We alleged both products liability, and also violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. Investigation revealed that the materials came from Taiwan, were not tested, were not inspected, and were of poor quality. Investigation also revealed that the Defendant already knew about the defects before our client was injured but never warned her or otherwise pulled the product from the shelf.
Facing exposure for punitive damages, the defendant settled on the eve of trial for $11 million.