Jury Awards $1.8M Exploding e-Cigarette Trial in California

A Superior Court jury in Riverside, Calif., awarded $1.85 million in a lawsuit over an e-cigarette product that exploded while charging, physically burning and emotionally scarring a woman, her attorneys said in early October.

Jennifer Ries was traveling to the airport for a trip to Brazil as part of a nonprofit organization in 2013 and while her husband was driving she plugged in her locally purchased VapCigs “E-Hookah E-Cigarette Starter Kit” charger, the lawsuit states.

As it was charging, the battery exploded, causing several pieces of hot metal shrapnel to disperse throughout the car, according to the suit.

The blast ignited Ries’ seat and dress, burning her buttocks and legs, and spilled corrosive materials into her lap, causing painful second degree burns on her legs, buttocks and hand, the suit states.

“This industry is unregulated and remains ripe for disaster,” the attorney for Ries, Gregory L. Bentley of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP, said in a statement. Sadly, the industry’s carelessness struck Jennifer and changed her life forever. We are thankful for the jury’s verdict and hope it will jolt the industry to take steps to ensure and test that these products are safe for consumers before they are placed on the market.”

The case is Jennifer Ries v. VAPCIGS, Riverside Superior Court Case No. RIC 1306769.