A whirlpool lawsuit is filed against a homeowner who fell ill after using the swimming pool. The family claimed that the water was safe to swim in and the owner knew about the safety hazards. A judge in a California district court ordered a special hearing in which Core Foods LLC was selected to be the defendant. On March 7, the court ordered a special meeting of the board of directors of Core Foods LLC. At the meeting, Core Foods was held liable for the negligence of the company which supplied the pool with dangerous chemicals.
The company did not deny liability. However, it stated that they had never produced chlorine-based products which could have caused the contamination of the water supply in the home of the victim. The company also maintained that as a manufacturer of just such products that they are bound by certain strict rules and regulations to produce safe products every time. In a related lawsuit, a second family claimed that their son died from the effects of the tainted water. They also alleged that the company was responsible for his death.
On April 4, a jury in San Francisco awarded a claim to a group of relatives of the deceased who had died from water poisoning caused by Core’s defective product. The verdict was given after deliberation and the jurors had reached a unanimous verdict. The family was awarded a claim of more than $2 million.
Whirlpool was not the only company to manufacture pool chemicals. Many other companies also sell cleaning equipment which is used to clean swimming pools. When cleaning an Olympic-size pool or even a small one-yard pool, chlorine is used. Chlorine forms a thin film on top of the water and is safe for swimming. However, it is deadly for people who are allergic to it. Chlorine is contained in many of the pool supplies and, as it evaporates, it leaves some toxic chemicals in the water.
The problem was that there were no safety instructions for the use of the product and there were no warning labels on the supplies. Most people assume that the warnings on the water softeners are adequate but they are not. If the customer followed the instructions and used the product according to the package directions, he or she could be just fine. But, if the customer did not follow the package directions and used the water softeners without following all the safety instructions, there was a good chance that the water in the pool would be contaminated with dangerous materials. This is exactly what happened in this case.
The jury found that Whirlpool failed to warn its customers about the dangers of using the product without reading and understanding the directions. There were numerous instances where the customer did not read the instructions before using the water. This was not a big problem until the water became contaminated.
