The Chicago Tribune reports that three people whose fingers were snipped off by Martha Stewart chairs "won" settlements against the company:
The settlements were reached with Sandy Caffoe of Jamestown, N.Y., a 67-year-old who lost the function of her right hand when two fingers were amputated in 2008; college student Lisa Peterson, 22, of Des Plaines, Ill. who had her right ring finger amputated in 2009; and Kaitlyn Damron of Pikeville, Ky., who was four in 2006 when the tip of her left pinky finger was severed.
A few notes:
- I find it odd that the article states that they "won" settlements. I'm sure if you asked any of the plaintiffs if they won anything, they would gladly have their fingers back to normal rather than any dollar amount they received. They also didn't "win" anything, they settled their cases. The settlement dollar amount, whatever it was, is ggenerally lower than what the plaintiffs would ask for at trial. Settling takes the inherent risk in going to trial, that's why they are lower.
- Note how long it took for them to recover anything. The 4 year old child's finger was severed in 2006. That's 5 year's ago.
- Like most personal injury settlements, this one was confidential.
Manufacturers need to be held accountable for defective product injuries. I'm glad in this case, that the victims were compensated something for their injuries (although that will not give them their fingers back).
Here in Florida we have Miami injury lawyers that advertise on TV a lot. They, like you, seem to be very well versed and focused on getting justice for victims of product injury.