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Date: 12-10-1998
Case Style: Thomas L. Adkins and Joan E. Adkins v. K-Mart Corporation and Char-Broil
Case Number: 25199
Judge: David W. Knight
Court: Circuit Court, Mercer County, West Virginia
Plaintiff's Attorney: Kenneth E. Chittum, Esq., and McGinnis E. Hatfield, Jr., Esq., Bluefield, West Virginia
Defendant's Attorney: J. Peter Richardson, Esq., of Richardson & Davis, Bluefield, West Virginia for K-Mart Corporation; Richard L. Earles, Esq. , of Shuman, Annand & Poe, Charleston, West Virginia for Char-Broil
Description: Personal Injury/Products Liability - The Adkinses alleged that they purchased and assembled a Char-Broil gas grill from the K-Mart in Bluefield, West Virginia; that they used the grill approximately three or four times; and that the last time they used the grill, it exploded and caught fire. They alleged that the grill fire caused physical and psychological injury to Mr. Adkins and partial destruction of the Adkinses' home. The Plaintiffs claimed that they did not alter or change the grill in any way and used the grill in the manner for which it was intended. Plaintiffs filed personal injury/products liability action alleging negligence, breach of express and implied warranty and strict liability for defective design and manufacture against K-Mart and Char-Broil. The Defendants claimed that the destruction of the gas grill in the fire made it impossible to determine the exact cause of the fire and impossible to determine the relative responsibility between the defendants regarding product defect, improper assembly, or defects in parts of the grill provided by other manufacturers.
Outcome: Defendant's Verdict - Trial Court granted Defendant's motions for summary judgment.
Plaintiff's Experts: Charles C. Crim, P.E., Senior Engineer at Froehling & Robertson, Inc.
Defendant's Experts: Unknown
Comments: Reversed and remanded by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. See: 511 S.E.2d 840 (W.Va. 1998). Note: The above cited date is the appellate decision date and not the trial date. Reported by C.H.