Good for the jury: Johnson Controls ordered to pay $43M in Vermont civil suit
Vermont juries will not give big business a pass.
A Vermont jury returned a $43.1 million verdict against Johnson Controls Inc. after a 51-year-old woman sued the maker of a car seat that allegedly collapsed on her in a 2007 accident and left her a paraplegic, according to local press reports.
Glendale-based Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) disagrees with the jury’s decision and is considering an appeal, a spokesman told the Burlington Free Press.
It’s possibly the largest jury verdict in Vermont state court history, the Free Press reported. Read the full story here.
Johnson Controls, which manufactures automotive interior systems and batteries and provides facility management systems and services, is the largest public company based in Wisconsin, with $42 billion in sales in fiscal 2012.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2013/07/johnson-controls-ordered-to-pay-43m.html
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According to a police accident report, Ekwauabu said she fell asleep just before striking Heco’s car as Heco was waiting at a red light to turn into a PriceChopper grocery store parking lot. Ekwauabu’s car was believed to be traveling 35 mph when the crash occurred.
Court papers filed by Heco’s lawyers contend the car seat back collapsed on her when the wreck occurred, causing severe spinal-cord injuries. Heco was wearing a seat belt at the time.
The case initially listed 33 codefendants when it was filed in 2010. By 2012, all but Johnson Controls and Midstate Dodge were dismissed; Midstate Dodge later settled out of court with the Hecos, according to court records.
Johnson Controls formerly operated an automobile battery manufacturing plant in Bennington that employed 270 people. The firm shut down the plant in 1994.
Curtiss, Heco’s lawyer, said Heco is a refugee from Bosnia who escaped Sarajevo with her two sons after her husband was killed. Heco and her sons made their way to the United States and then to Vermont in 1995.
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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130701/NEWS02/307010024/Jury-awards-43M-to-Essex-woman-paralyzed-in-crash?nclick_check=1