A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Coleman Company Inc. due to two Colorado residents that died after inhaling carbon monoxide from one of their propane heaters during a camping trip, as reported by the Deseret News.
S.D., 28 and D.T., 10, were attending a paintball tournament with their friends and family when, while using a Coleman PowerMate propane heater, they succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
They were using the heater to keep warm during the evening’s rain at a campsite in southeast Cache County, Utah.
The two were found dead on June 21, 2009
The suit was filed by S.D.’s wife and D.T’s parents in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.
The families have retained Howard, Lewis & Peterson, of Provo, and Mark Stageberg, of Minnesota, to represent them in the lawsuit. Stageberg is known for suing the popular outdoor gear company over the propane heaters before – at least 15 times – and gaining an $8 million award in at least one of the cases.
Stageberg said, “They keep killing people with these heaters and they won't do a recall to get them off the market.”
Coleman stopped the production of the PowerMate model in 2006, but they still have done nothing about the 1.7 million that Stageberg claims are still in use. He continued, “People do not understand there's a serious risk to them for taking one of these heaters inside a camper or tent.”
As to the pain and suffering incurred by the loss of loved ones, Stageberg stated that S.D. left behind a wife he had only married eight months before, as well as a 3 year-old daughter from a previous relationship. And, of the 10 year-old, her family had said that D.T. was “just a charming, wonderful young lady.”
The lawsuit is claiming that Coleman was aware that the propane heaters are defective but failed to warn customers of the proper amount of ventilation needed to make them safe
The suit states, “Long before the PowerMate 5017 and the propane lantern were sold, the defendant was fully aware that users of its propane heaters and propane lanterns were using the products within enclosures without appropriate ventilation and were, as a result, dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Delaina Lee, Coleman’s spokeswoman, said that the Wichita, Kansas-based company does not comment on pending litigation.
Stageberg claims that there have been numerous lawsuits filed against Coleman in the last 20 years. He said that he is aware of a minimum of 90 lost lives – a number gained by reports from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and, Coleman itself.
Stageberg said that approximately 30 of the deaths resulted in litigation against Coleman. He further claimed, “No doubt there were many more not reported.”
The lawsuit states, “Defendant has known for many years that the propane radiant heaters of its competitors in the marketplace have a built-in safety shut device that extinguishes the heaters before they emit deadly levels of carbon monoxide. Defendant has known for many years that the propane heaters of its competitors have not resulted in dozens of carbon monoxide deaths and injuries like the Coleman heaters.”
Unspecified economic, non-economic and punitive damages are being sought.
If you have lost a loved one due to a faulty piece of equipment, you are due monetary compensation for your pain and suffering. Get help – and contact a personal injury attorney today!