Fan manufacturer to pay $13.5 million dollar verdict after boy’s death

The Philadelphia Daily News (10/15) reported, Jurors brought justice to a little boy and his wife when they rendered their verdict. The Jury entered a verdict against the Defendant, West Chester-based fan manufacturer Lasko Products, Inc., for $13.5 million after a faulty fan motor ignited a 2005 blaze that killed a 7-year-old Germantown [PA] boy. Lasko, the largest fan manufacturer in the United States, discovered a defect in the China-made motors in their portable fans in 1999 and developed corrective technology in 2004, said the boy’s attorney. But the company did not alert consumers who already had the defective fans nor report the problem to the Consumer Product Safety Commission until after the boy’s death.

If lawyers did not pursue these type of lawsuits for their clients, manufacturers would have no incentive to correct the known dangers. Hopefully this verdict will send a message to this manufacturer and others across the country and the world that human life is important and if you know of something that can cause harm, do something to correct it.