Greg Bentley & Vapers Sue E-Cigarette Makers, Sellers After Explosions, Burns

Greg Bentley & Vapers Sue E-Cigarette Makers, Sellers After Explosions, Burns

Attorney Greg Bentley, with Bentley & More LLP, speaks at a news conference about e-cigarettes at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. (Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times)

By JoNel Aleccia 

Seattle Times health reporter

  

Four Northwest residents who claim they were hurt when e-cigarettes caught fire or exploded said Thursday they’ll sue the manufacturers and sellers of the popular vaping devices.  The alleged victims, from Washington and Oregon, suffered severe burns and other injuries, including damage that required skin and bone grafts.

They held a news conference with their lawyer, James S. Rogers, of Seattle, who has joined with Gregory Bentley, an Irvine, Calif., lawyer who represents dozens of people who claim they’ve been harmed when the lithium-ion batteries in defective devices misfired. A woman in Riverside, Calif., was awarded nearly $1.9 million by a jury last year after she sued the manufacturer, wholesaler and the store where she bought an e-cigarette device that burned her, leaving permanent scars.

“These batteries are a ticking time bomb and they’re causing harm all over the country,” Bentley told reporters. 

The lawsuits claim the devices were defective and violated the Washington Product Liability Act.  Those who planned to file lawsuits Thursday included Olaf Eriksen, 40, of Seattle, who was hurt April 11, when an e-cigarette device exploded in his pants pocket, according to a complaint. He planned to sue EXC LLC, a company that does business as EcigExpress in Seattle, plus 100 unnamed defendants, in King County Superior Court.

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