



Hotel guest suffers hand injury on hotel glass coffee carafe - Settlement with manufacturer and hotel
SLCA Staff:
Richard N Shapiro, Attorney
Jackie T. Hunsburger, Paralegal
Meg G. Cudden, Legal Assistant
What Happened:
Our client was a college student attending a wedding, and was staying at a Marriott hotel in Northern Virginia. He was replacing the glass carafe into a coffee maker when the glass carafe shattered in his left hand causing a deep wound to his hand between the thumb and first finger. The Plaintiff notified the hotel of the injury, and went to the emergency room of a local hospital for treatment. The wound was located at the metacarpal phalangeal joint, volar and caused a digital nerve injury as well as a flexor tendon injury. Upon returning home in another state in New England, our client underwent hand surgery by orthopedic surgeon to repair the digital nerve and repair flexor digitorum longus tendon. Following surgery, the Plaintiff received physical therapy to restore function of the hand. However, the Orthopedic Surgeon has indicated that the Plaintiff would have some stiffness and decreased strength of the hand, as well as some slight decrease in sensibility of the nerve, which would be a permanent injury. $11,000 dollars in medical bills and approximately $3,000 dollars in lost wages were incurred by our client, who was on the verge of graduating college at the time of the injury, and who later obtained a teaching position.
Legal Strategy:
Our legal strategy was to not only consider a claim against the hotel for providing a glass coffee carafe with known propensities to shatter, but to also locate the manufacturer and/or distributor and pursue a claim for product liability on the same grounds. We conducted research and found that many of the coffee maker companies are offering a metal coffee carafe or a shatter proof plastic ceramic material carafe. Either of these changes will prevent the type of permanent hand injury that that happens when a glass carafe shatters while being manipulated by a user.
After making settlement demand recommendations on both the manufacturer and hotel the case was settled for $70,000 dollars, with $45,000 being paid by the manufacturer and $25,000 being paid on behalf of the Marriott franchise owner.
Awarded: Hand Injury Settlement/Glass Coffee Carafe Shatters-Hotel Guest
Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton, P.C.
1294 Diamond Springs Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23455
Phone: (757) 460-7776
Fax: (757) 460.3428
Toll Free: (800) 752.0042
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NE NC Office
101 E. Elizabeth Street
Elizabeth City, NC 27909
Phone: (757) 460-7776
Fax: (757) 460.3428
Toll Free: (800) 752.0042
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DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERY CASE IS DIFFERENT, AND THE VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS MENTIONED ON THIS WEBSITE, WHILE ACCURATE, DO NOT REPRESENT WHAT WE MAY OBTAIN FOR YOU IN YOUR CASE.
Awarded: Ultimately, the parties all submitted to mediation carried out by a retired judge. The case was resolved for $375,000.00, with part paid by both Bauer and AT&T.
Awarded: The case was tried and the jury returned a verdict for $150,000.00, plus interest and costs. No settlement offer was ever made before the verdict.
Awarded: Hand Injury Settlement/Glass Coffee Carafe Shatters-Hotel Guest