Archive page 33 Pool drain victim wins $104 million

Saturday August 2, 2003

Pool drain victim wins $104 million

Miami teenager won a $104 million judgment against a product manufacturer. The jury found the product to be unsafe.
The teenager suffered brain damage when is arm got stuck in a pool drain.

The drain cover was able to be removed because its screws had rusted and became loose. The teenager was held under water by the drain suction for about 10 minutes. He could not remove his arm from the drain.

Several people attempted, to no avail, to pull the boy free. The switch in the pump room was finally turned off to free the boy. But, not in time to prevent brain damage.

Lawyers argued that StaRite could have fixed the defect if it had installed an emergency shut-off switch. This incident is similar to other pool accidents that exposed defects in the company's drain cover and pump

In 1993, a Carolina girl was eviscerated when she became stuck on a drain of a childrens pool due to the suction of a pump made by StaRite.