Groton Injury Lawyer
Decal-Ignited Fire Brings $516,000 Award
A new Haven Superior Court jury has awarded a former Groton resident $516,000 in compensatory damages for a burn he sustained in 1983 when a decal on his shirt ignited.
The jury found in favor of Jeffrey Cave, who had been wearing a shirt manufactured by an Alabama company known as Garren, Inc. The shirt caught fire when he dropped a flaming marshmallow on it, court records show.
A lawsuit filed by attorney Peter J. Bartinik of Groton contends Garren and the company which made the decal, Factors, were negligent. During the trial, which ended last week, Ronald Perry, chairman of the textile department of Southeastern Massachusetts University, testified that the decal contains a highly flammable softening agent.
Bartinik said his client initially spent five days at the Yale-New Haven Hospital burn unit, and then had to return for daily whirlpool treatments over a four-week period. The boy, who was 7 at the time of the accident and now is living in Branford, also had to have skin grafts from his thigh to his chest, Bartinik said.
The jury found both Garren and Factors were reckless, leaving the door open to possible punitive damages. A hearing to determine the extent of these damages is scheduled for Dec. 5.
Attorneys for both Garren and Factors have filed appeals of the award. The jury ordered Garren to pay 60 percent of the award and Factors 40 percent.
Bartinik said he is disturbed that the decal which burned his client is still being sold, adding that he has sent a copy of the court decision, along with transcripts of Perry’s testimony, to the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
The Bartinik Law Firm, P.C.
100 Fort Hill Road
Groton, Connecticut 06340
email: pjb@grotonlaw.com
860 445 8521
860 445 5873 fax
