Boat explosion victim awarded $15 million

Updated: 7:33 am, Fri Nov 28, 2014.
by Nathan Bechtold

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — A man who was nearly killed in a boat explosion at Toad Cove Marina on July 31, 2010 was awarded $15 million by a jury last week.

On Monday, Nov. 17, after a three-week trial, the jury deliberated for about an hour, and came back with the decision to recompense Donald Black for $1.3 million in medical bills, $1.5 million in economic damages, as well as a life-care plan due to increased medical risks resulting from his injuries, according to Tim Morgan, one of Black’s attorneys. Also representing Black were attorneys Rob Sullivan and Eric Bergmanis.

The remainder of the funds awarded were for the pain and suffering and loss of quality of life that resulted from the tragic explosion.

The explosion occurred after Black had refueled his 2000 Baja 38 Special named Euphoria at Camden On The Lake’s Toad Cove Marina. Morgan says surveillance video and testimony revealed Black turned on the bilge pump after refueling, and suddenly the boat and surrounding water burst into flames.

“After the initial fire shot out of the engine compartment of Mr. Black’s boat, there was also fire on the water,” Morgan said, adding, “There was gasoline on the water.”

The source of that gasoline was ultimately the crux of the case.

“The question was, ‘Did that gasoline come from the boat, or did it come from somewhere else?’” Morgan said.

The fire on the water burned out within a minute or so, Morgan said, but the boat burned for an hour before firefighters sank it to extinguish the flames.

Black spent months in rehab, after suffering burns over 40 percent of his body. “His heart stopped six times in the first 60 days,” Morgan said, adding Black “fought for his life” and “had a remarkable drive to get back and survive this.”

Once he was on the mend, Black filed suit against Leisure Hotels, which operates Camden On The Lake, and Brunswick, the company that owned Baja when Black’s boat was manufactured.

While Brunswick’s attorneys argued the fuel on the water came from a leak underneath the dock, Morgan said the evidence indicated otherwise. He explained that the fire investigator determined, based on burn patterns, the boat’s fuel hose had separated from the filler neck (where the fuel nozzle is inserted) when the boat was being refueled. Black’s attorneys concluded the gasoline then spilled into the bilge and made its way out of the bilge's drain hole, onto the water. Morgan noted the amount of gas on the water “was measured in gallons, not ounces,” based on surveillance video showing the explosion.

The exact source for the ignition of the fire was not part of the case, but it appeared that a spark from Black’s activation of the bilge pump caused it, Morgan said. He added, “Once you get a fuel source like that, static electricity or anything can ignite it.”

As Black’s legal team began to investigate why the hose might have come free, Morgan says they discovered Brunswick had changed the boat's design from 1999 to 2000. In the 1999 model, there were slots for two clamps to secure the hose to the filler neck. But 2000 models only featured one slot, even though the hose still had two clamps.

Brunswick argued this difference was irrelevant, but Black’s legal team contended it had weakened that connection, allowing the fuel nozzle to push the hose off the filler neck, causing the massive fuel spill. The jury found that explanation plausible.

Ultimately, Leisure Hotels was exonerated, and the full amount of $15 million will fall on Brunswick’s shoulders.

Morgan says Brunswick could still appeal the verdict, but he doesn’t know whether they’ll choose to.

He said after the trial, Black thanked the jury for their service, noting the jurors had worked on Veteran’s Day and Election Day.

Morgan felt Black was “very satisfied with the jury’s verdict, and would like for it to be recognized by the company or upheld by the court.”

He noted the $15 million is the highest amount of damages awarded in Missouri this year, and may be an all-time record in Camden County.

http://lakeexpo.com/news/lake_news/b...f78b6bac4.html

So... the hose comes off the tank in the boat, you fill the bilge with gas and you DONT smell it and go WTF??? Or you DO notice the bilge full of gas and decide to turn on an ELECTRIC bilge pump??? Then you sue the holy shiit out of the parent company that built the boat 10 years ago because your a freakin idiot???

1. The guy was responsible for determining if there was a problem and be observant enough to notice if there is a problem

2. Arent bilge pumps supposed to be designed so they cant ignite a fire?

3. Arent you supposed to run the bilge blower while fueling and for a period after fueling so your chit doesnt go boom??

That boat would have stunk so bad with fuel in the bilge instead of the tank.

sad results whatever the cause.
Amazing how the deepest pockets get the most blame no matter what...

I'm thinking there will be an appeal of this one. Sometimes the handouts are ridiculous. I wonder how many grooves are on each of my tank neck hoses for the clamps? There is no way the gas can get from the bilge to the water without the pump on, is there? The attorney's said through the bilge drain hole?

I have to look up more on this one.

http://lakeexpo.com/news/lake_news/b...514ce0fa9.html

Brunswick : Sullivan Law Firm Obtains $15 Million Record Verdict Against Brunswick Corporation in Baja Boat Explosion Case

Camdenton, MO (PRWEB) November 28, 2014

Rob Sullivan of Sullivan Law LLC, a Kansas City, Missouri based personal injury law firm specializing in catastrophic personal injury cases on behalf of individuals and families, obtained a jury verdict in favor of the victim of a boat explosion. The Plaintiff, Donald Black was also represented by attorneys Timothy Morgan of Kansas City and Erik Bergmanis of Camdenton. The lawsuit, alleging negligence against Leisure Hotels LLC and negligence and strict product liability against Brunswick Corporation and Baja Marine Corporation, was filed in the Circuit Court for the 26th Judicial District, Camdenton, Missouri, Case No.: Case No. 11CM-CC00223 before the Honorable William Hass.

A Camden County jury awarded $15 million to a man who was severely burned when his boat exploded on the Lake of the Ozarks. The verdict against the boat manufacturer Baja Marine Corporation, a former member of Brunswick Corporation's boating division, is a record award in Camden County and the highest jury verdict in a tort case so far in Missouri for 2014. Before trial, additional defendants and third party defendants settled for more that $500,000.

Mr. Black was fueling his Baja 38 Special on July 31, 2010 at the unattended marine service station at Camden on the Lake hotel and marina. During the fueling process, Mr. Black and his passenger smelled gas. After they stopped fueling, the two men began an inspection of the boat to determine if there was a leak. When the engine hatch was raised and the manual bilge pump activated, a fireball erupted out of the engine compartment, burning Mr. Black over 40% of his body. Mr. Black was able to jump onto the dock before the boat was fully engulfed in fire. The boat burned for another hour while firefighters attempted to extinguish the fire until fire suppression efforts eventually sank the boat.

Mr. Black suffered full thickness/third-degree burns over 30% of his body and deep second-degree burns over another 10%. He was life-flighted to University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia, Missouri where he spent months in treatment and recovery. Following his discharge, Mr. Black spent more than a month at Rusk Rehabilitation Center. The medical bills for his treatment amounted to more than $1.3 million.

The lawsuit alleged the Baja 38 Special was defectively designed with components that posed an unreasonable risk of fuel leaks and fire. Components of the fuel delivery system in the 2000 model year Baja 38 Special had been changed from the 1999 model year design. Among the components changed was the gas fill on the boat, the metal pipe set into the hull of the boat where a gas fuel nozzle is inserted to fuel the boat. Regulations require the fuel hose that feeds the boat's fuel tank to be double-clamped. The lawsuit alleged that the gas fill in the 2000 model year boat failed to properly secure the fuel hose, causing it to separate during fueling and allowing as much as nineteen gallons of gasoline to be pumped into the hull of the boat instead of the fuel tank.

Sullivan said that the Defendants never offered any explanation for why the gas fill in the 38 Special was weakened from the 1999 to the 2000 model year boat. "Brunswick and Baja went from an American made part that met the certification requirements, to a foreign made part with a weaker connection that could not have met the certification requirements as designed," Sullivan said. "From opening statement to closing argument, I asked for an explanation from the Defendants and their lawyers, but none was ever given," he said. Through more than three years of litigation Brunswick and Baja never produced any documentation explaining the change, nor did they provide testimony from anyone at either of the companies to explain the reason the connection was weakened.

"It was a hard fought case. We're just happy that Mr. Black was able to have his day in court, get the vindication he deserved from the jury and an award that will at least allow him some measure of comfort and additional treatment as he lives the rest of his life with these horrific injuries," said Sullivan.

Leisure Hotels LLC, the operator of Camden on the Lake was sued for negligence. The gas dock at the marina had no attendant on duty while Mr. Black fueled the boat. It also used a type of vapor recovery nozzle that may have made contributed to the fuel hose separation. Brunswick and Baja alleged that the fire was the result of a leak in a fuel line at the marina, claiming that the fire started on the water and then spread to the engine bay of the boat, causing it to explode.

Prior to trial, Sullivan had made a $25 million global demand to Brunswick, Baja and Leisure. Brunswick and Baja never made any offer to settle and the last offer from Leisure Hotels was $750,000.

After nearly three weeks of trial, the unanimous jury found that Brunswick Corporation and Baja Marine Corporation negligently designed the boat and awarded $15 million in compensatory damages to the Plaintiff. No fault for the explosion was assessed to Plaintiff. Leisure Hotels LLC was not found liable.

About Sullivan Law LLC

The Firm is based in Kansas City, Missouri but handles serious product liability and other injury cases throughout the United States. Sullivan Law LLC provides its services free of charge unless the victim recovers compensation. To learn more, please visit http://www.sullivantrial.com or call (877) 847-2622.

http://www.4-traders.com/BRUNSWICK-C...n-Ba-19465034/

"Sullivan said that the Defendants never offered any explanation for why the gas fill in the 38 Special was weakened from the 1999 to the 2000 model year boat. "Brunswick and Baja went from an American made part that met the certification requirements, to a foreign made part with a weaker connection that could not have met the certification requirements as designed," Sullivan said. "

If that's true, and I'm not saying it is, everybody with a 2000 or later Baja 38 Special better get the piece replaced.

Or start smoking in the bilge and get rich

"There is no way the gas can get from the bilge to the water without the pump on, is there?"

You could use a bucket.