© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(Nov. 3) – Lawyers for a 56-year-old Fort Worth air conditioning repairman severely burned while fixing a compressor are asking a Texas state court judge to uphold a multimillion-dollar judgment for their client.
Clarence Johnson sued St. Louis-based Emerson Climate Technologies and Fusite for designing and selling the defective compressor that sprayed scorching hot oil on his face and torso while he was repairing the unit.
Johnson suffered second-degree and third-degree burns on 62 percent of his body.
On Oct. 23, a Fort Worth jury agreed with Johnson and ordered Emerson and Fusite to pay $16.3 million in damages.
Lawyers for Emerson and Fusite did not respond to inquiries. A spokesperson for Emerson and Fusite, which are sister companies, said the company declined to comment. Defense lawyers are expected to ask the judge to set aside the verdict and announce their intention to appeal.
The jury heard testimony from 30 witnesses during the three-week trial in October.
Key evidence in the case, according to Payne, was that Emerson admitted in its own U.S. patent filings that the compressor was defective and that it fixed the problem in subsequent units.
“Emerson knew its product was defective, but it made no effort to warn people,” said Payne, a partner at PayneMitchell Law Group in Dallas.
The jury deliberated for four days before reaching a verdict that awarded Johnson $16.3 million in damages, which included $7 million for pain and suffering and more than $3 million in past and future medical expenses.
“We hope that Emerson will receive the message sent by this Tarrant County jury and take steps to improve their products’ design and warnings so this never happens again,” Payne said.
Todd Ramsey and Stefanie Bradshaw of the PayneMitchell Law Group, John Bush of the Bush Law Firm and John Jose of Fort Worth also represented Johnson in the case.
Emerson Climate and Fusite were represented by Ethan Shaw of the Austin law firm Shaw Cowart and Adam Peck and Melody Eagan, who are lawyers at the Lightfoot Franklin White law firm in Alabama.
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