Blitz USA is no more thanks to lawyers

[Scooby074]

The US legal system and their lawsuit happy mentality better not destroy Sceptre like it did Blitz.

Sceptre makes very good cans, plus a bunch of other plastic products including ammunition cans for the military. I'd hate to loose them as a manufacturer. I hope they take steps to insulate the Canadian division from the American legal system which seems to reward stupidity with a financial payout.

[CBW1999]

I believe it is the lawyer causing the problem. Yes, it does take an idiot in these examples but- the number of lawyers and their TV ads certainly entice people to jump on board.

The class action suits do more for the attorneys than the client. Idiots name get added to the list, lawyer gets his percentage off the top, reimbursement to health insurers for there costs and then the rest gets divided up amongst said idiots. The per idiot amount is generally not a lot.

The individual cases usually are the high profile type and the outcomes if awarded are ridiculous.

The root problem for most of these- no personal responsibility. In the county where I worked, someone stole a car, crashed it and died. The mother of said idiot sued- the car owner, car manufacturer AND the property owner where idiot crashed. Stupid- to say the least.

[rswyan]

I have four Blitz oil drain pans and had one newer Blitz diesel can (which I threw away) - as far as I'm concerned they were all absolute junk. All of the caps on the drain pans' spouts would never seal and always leaked, and the diesel can was next to impossible to use due to the spout.

While the exact circumstances that caused them to be driven from the business were in my book totally misguided and irresponsible on the part of those bringing the suits, perhaps it ended up being a bit of poetic (karmic ?) justice .....

[thatguy]

I would like to know more. How old was the gas can. Blitz has been making them for some time now. How large was the gas can, are we talking a 1 gallon or a 5 gallon. In several states using gas to start a fire is illegal.

here is the article i read

Blitz USA closes Oklahoma factory - PointOfLaw Forum


On December 28, 2005, David Calder tried to start a fire in his wood-burning stove in his trailer home—by inserting the nozzle of a $3.99 gas can into the stove to pour gas onto the fire, which Calder admitted was "stupid." (The container itself had "KEEP AWAY FROM FLAMES, PILOT LIGHTS, STOVES, HEATERS, ELECTRIC MOTORS, AND OTHER SOURCES OF IGNITION." impressed into the plastic; nevertheless, Calder included a failure-to-warn claim in his suit.) The resulting catastrophe killed his two-year-old daughter and severely burned Calder. This was, Calder argued, the fault of Blitz USA, the manufacturer of the gas can, for not including more idiot-proofing, though no gas container could reasonably protect against the idiocy of Calder's actions. A Clinton-appointed federal district judge refused to throw the case out, and refused to let Blitz USA argue the "state-of-the-art" product liability defense or argue that it complied with government regulations for the manufacture of gas cans. A sympathetic jury found millions of dollars of damages, and blamed Blitz USA to the tune of 70% of the damages. So Blitz USA, which used to employ 117 people at a factory in Oklahoma to manufacture about 75% of the gas cans sold in the US, is liquidating in bankruptcy, and Americans will have to get their gas cans from Chinese manufacturers—or resort to even more unsafe containers like milk jugs if there is a gas-can shortage during this year's hurricane season. So trial lawyer greed and a trial-lawyer-friendly judicial appointment has cost jobs, made Americans less safe, and increased carbon emissions from the need to import bulky gas cans from overseas. [Tulsa World via @billchilds; Calder v. Blitz USA 10th Circuit brief]

[Scooby074]

here is the article i read

Blitz USA closes Oklahoma factory - PointOfLaw Forum


On December 28, 2005, David Calder tried to start a fire in his wood-burning stove in his trailer home—by inserting the nozzle of a $3.99 gas can into the stove to pour gas onto the fire, which Calder admitted was "stupid." (The container itself had "KEEP AWAY FROM FLAMES, PILOT LIGHTS, STOVES, HEATERS, ELECTRIC MOTORS, AND OTHER SOURCES OF IGNITION." impressed into the plastic; nevertheless, Calder included a failure-to-warn claim in his suit.) The resulting catastrophe killed his two-year-old daughter and severely burned Calder. This was, Calder argued, the fault of Blitz USA, the manufacturer of the gas can, for not including more idiot-proofing, though no gas container could reasonably protect against the idiocy of Calder's actions. A Clinton-appointed federal district judge refused to throw the case out, and refused to let Blitz USA argue the "state-of-the-art" product liability defense or argue that it complied with government regulations for the manufacture of gas cans. A sympathetic jury found millions of dollars of damages, and blamed Blitz USA to the tune of 70% of the damages. So Blitz USA, which used to employ 117 people at a factory in Oklahoma to manufacture about 75% of the gas cans sold in the US, is liquidating in bankruptcy, and Americans will have to get their gas cans from Chinese manufacturers—or resort to even more unsafe containers like milk jugs if there is a gas-can shortage during this year's hurricane season. So trial lawyer greed and a trial-lawyer-friendly judicial appointment has cost jobs, made Americans less safe, and increased carbon emissions from the need to import bulky gas cans from overseas. [Tulsa World via @billchilds; Calder v. Blitz USA 10th Circuit brief]

The sad thing is some moron could use a milk jug to store gas, do the same thing as Calder, and sue the darn dairy!!! Let alone the manufacturer of the milk jug.

Somehow, some dumb jury will say that the milk jug didn't have a "Not for Gasoline" warning on the side, so the innocent dairy and manufacturer will be on the hook for millions. There is something inherently wrong when the legal system rewards stupidity.

[Furu]

Not so much greedy lawyers as the idiots they empanel to hear these "get me rich quick" schemes. If the juries in these cases ruled in favor of the Corp., and thousands were wasted in legal fees with no remuneration, you'd see this type of litigation disappear

As the old scorpion and frog joke goes lawyers are what they are you can't blame them. While I have not seen the evidence presented to the jury or the judges instructions, when juries feel sorry for someone and they are too stupid to realize that corporations and their insurance coverages are not independent events they feel someone should pay and since we as a country now seem to believe that insurance payouts come from the insurance companies and that no one gets hurt we will continue to see this just like we do in so many lawsuits.
Was that a run-on sentence or not?
No one has responsibility for their actions it is always someone else and I am a victim.
Most people on juries can not think for themselves any more and heaven help you if you use common sense. From what I have read I blame the jury not the lawyers/scorpions they just are what they are.

[MHarryE]

Are you trying to say that a lawyer was sitting by McDonalds looking for a person who spilled there coffee in their lap so he could get her to sue? Have you ever had to go through a trial either as the plaintiff or the defendant? Do you know the law that regulated what the judge could allow and what was not allowed? Judges can screw up - that's why there are multiple levels of appeal. I have sat on a witness stand in an Oklahoma product liability trial and it was nothing like you see on television. If the judge erred in his rulings and Blitz's lawyers didn't pick up on it, it is their fault. Maybe they had the same OK attorney that was on the other side in the case Ion which I testified.

[Willl]

I'm going to go get a Bic lighter and stick my finger in the flame and get rich.

[CBW1999]

I'm going to go get a Bic lighter and stick my finger in the flame and get rich.

Bwahahahahah!

[hosspuller]

Either Blitz's lawyer was incompetent or the jury pool was overfilled with stupid. I've been called for jury duty 3 times in 3 states. Each time, when ever the potential jurist's occupation required medical, accounting, engineering, or science training, they were given an immediate dismissal. The lawyers are looking for stupid.