Verdict Amount: $58,650,000

Venue: Los Angeles, California

Demand: $9,750,000

Offer: $5,000

Actual Award: $46,920,000

Plaintiffs: Ava Aren Shinedling (Age 3),Kenneth Aaron Shinedling (Age 42), Alexia Celeste Shinedling (Age9), Addison Leilani Shinedling (Age 12), Estate of Amy CelesteShinedling (Age 36)

Defendants: Sunbeam Products, Inc., County ofSan Bernardino, Phelan Pinon Hills Community Services District

On Jan. 5, 2011, plaintiff Kenneth Shinedling and his wife, Amy,were sleeping in the master bedroom of their home, when a firestarted in their room. Amy ultimately died in the fire. A coronerconcluded that she died within “minutes” due to “thermocutaneousburns with inhalation of products of combustion.”

The family claimed the fire was started by a heater. Thecouple's three minor daughters, Addison, Alexia and Ava, suedSunbeam Products Inc., the county of San Bernardino, and PhelanPinon Hills Community Services District. After a successful demurerby the government defendants, the matter only continued againstSunbeam.

Plaintiffs' counsel contended that the fire originated in themaster bedroom in the area around the heater. Sunbeam hadmanufactured the quartz-style space heater — model HQH307. Theheater had a warning label on its body and a tag on the cord thatstated, “Warning, risk of fire. Keep combustible materials such asfurniture, papers, clothes and curtains at least three feet fromthe front of the heater and away from the sides and rear.”

Mr. Shinedling was aware of the requirement to keep combustiblesat least three feet away from the heater, but counsel contendedthat the heater failed the consumer expectation test for designdefect and failed the risk-benefit test for design defect. Counselalso said that Sunbeam failed to warn of the heater dangers, sincethe company knew materials could inadvertently get in front of oron the heater, and the heater's automatic safety switch would notwork, and this would start a fire. The warnings on the product alsodid not tell users not to leave the heater on while sleeping orthat the automatic safety switch would not always work.

Defense counsel argued that the automatic safety switch was notdesigned to prevent fires. However, plaintiffs' counsel noted thatSunbeam's project manager testified that the automatic safetyswitch was on the heater to prevent fires. Plaintiffs' counsel alsonoted that Sunbeam's safety engineer testified that he knew thatthe automatic safety switch would not always work, but that he didnot tell Sunbeam's design people or the project manager, nor did hetell the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission about the problem.However, the engineer acknowledged that after the fire in question,he was obligated to alert the Consumer Product Safety Commission ofany potential defects in the heater, but that he kept thelimitation of the safety switch to himself because he did not thinkit was important.

Sunbeam's counsel denied the heater was defective and denied anyalleged defect caused the decedent's death. Sunbeam's counselcontended that the heater met all Underwriters Laboratory (a safetyconsulting and certification company) standards, that the ConsumerProduct Safety Commission did not tell Sunbeam to recall theproduct.

Sunbeam's counsel further argued that the heater's warnings wereviolated because combustibles were not kept three feet away fromthe heater and Shinedling's negligence caused the fire. Sunbeam'scounsel also contended Shinedling could have saved Ava by placingher outside of the master bedroom's French doors and then gone backinto the house to save his wife instead of their other twogirls.

Plaintiffs' counsel said Amy insisted that Shinedling save theirgirls first. Under cross-examination, one of Sunbeam's expertwitnesses, the fire captain who was on the scene, admitted he hadexperienced situations where young children were placed outside ofa home fire, only to rush back in to try to save their parents.This confirmed that if Shinedling had done what defense counselalleged, there likely would have been more fire victims.

The family sought recovery of wrongful death damages for theloss of Amy Shinedling's love, comfort, care, society,companionship, affection, solace, and support. They also soughtrecovery of direct injury and bystander emotional distress damages.Sunbeam's counsel disputed the nature and extent of the decedent'sfamily's damages.

The jury found that Sunbeam's heater failed to perform as safelyas an ordinary consumer would have expected it to and that theheater was defective in its warnings. It also found that Sunbeamnegligently designed the heater and that Sunbeam was negligent inits warnings. The jury further found that the heater's design underthe risk-benefit test was not defective and that the heater'sdesign was not a factor in causing harm. The jury determined thatthe decedent's family's damages totaled $58.65 million, including$9,995,000 for Mr. Shinedling's damages, $15,595,000 for Addison'sdamages, $16,105,000 for Alexia's damages, and $16,955,000 forAva's damages. However, the jury apportioned 20 percent of thefault to Mr. Shinedling and 80 percent of the fault to Sunbeam.After apportionment, the decedent's family would recover $46.92million.

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