Explosion in laundry room: Improper opening of gas line: Burns: Exhaustion: Settlement

Law Reporter, Jun 2001

Roe v. Doe, N.C., Wake County Super. Ct., confidential docket number, Oct. 2000.

Roe, a 45-year-old health care administrator, went to the laundry room at a health care facility to check on the installation of a clothes dryer. He found a technician employed by the laundry equipment supplier working on the dryer, and noticed a strong smell of gas in the room. As he turned to leave, the technician pushed the start button on the dryer. There was an immediate natural gas explosion that blew out the windows of the room.

Roe suffered severe burns over 25 percent of his body. He required skin grafting on his arms. He also suffered severed tendons in both hands and scarring. His wife spent several months caring for him, causing her to suffer from exhaustion. She worked as a laboratory technician and lost $5,000 in earnings as a result of her husband's injuries. Roe's medical bills-paid by a workers' compensation carrier-were about $85,000. He did not incur lost earnings.

Roe and his wife filed suit against the subcontractor and general contractor responsible for supplying the laundry equipment, alleging negligent installation of the equipment. They charged that the technician's "bleeding" of the gas line directly into the closed laundry room, in an effort to ensure that there was no air in the line, was the cause of the explosion. They also contended that the explosion would have been prevented had the technician been equipped with a $100 gas detection device.

The case was settled for $2.05 million at a second mediation. The workers' compensation lien was reduced to $40,000.

Plaintiffs' natural gas expert was Douglas C. Buchan, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Defendants' accident reconstruction experts were Scott Barnhill and Charles RL Manning Jr., both of Raleigh, N.C.

Plaintiffs' Counsel

*Leto Copeley, Raleigh, N.C.

*Burton Craige, Raleigh, N.C.