Two Carriers Get Pumped for $104 Million
By Robert Warne - August 20, 2003 Insurance giants, American International Group (AIG) and Liberty Mutual Group got dunked earlier this month by a giant $104 million compensatory verdict, for a policyholder’s faulty pool pump, that nearly drowned a boy.
The Florida jury found Sta-Rite Industries liable for manufacturing an unsafe swimming pool pump that trapped 14-year-old Lorenzo Peterson underwater long enough to leave him in a permanent vegetative state.
The suit claimed Sta-Rite was aware of similar accidents involving its pumps but the company never made any efforts to install safety devices or warn distributors about the potential hazards associated with the pump’s dangerous suction.
In the last 23 years Sta-Rite has been sued 21 times. The largest award prior to Peterson’s was $25 million for a 9-year-old girl who lost a considerable portion of her intestines from the suction of a pump after entering a wading pool.
Wisconsin Energy Corp. owns Sta-Rite and is expected to pick up the $500,000 self-insured portion of the total award.
According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, it was the insurers that called the shots related to pursuing the suit in court rather than striking a settlement. In fact the lead attorney for the Peterson’s said Wisconsin Energy officials wanted to settle the claim instead of going to trial.
The punitive damages related to the claim are expected to be determined later this month.
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