Rebecca Wagoner, the mother of 5 year old Rebecca Hope Wagoner, who died after being trapped in a washing machine at a laundromat in Chilhowie on June 17, has filed a lawsuit in Smyth County Circuit Court seeking $37 Million in damages. Named in the suit is the machine’s manufacturer Pellerin Milnor Corp and the owner of the laundromat Heath Brothers Sales and Service. This is according to a report from TriCities.com. Jeff Campbell, the lawyer for Wagoner reportedly argues in the suit that a known defect exists with the machine in question that may allow it to start without any coins being inserted.

Somebody definitely is liable in this case. More than likely it appears that both the machine manufacturer and owner share in the liability in this tragic incident. Hopefully this case will serve as a wake up call to washing machine makers and laundromat owners alike that they need to provide some type of override system that can be used in emergencies. The machine in this case had no such mechanism and was sealed airtight and could not be stopped.

UPDATE: 8/6/2005
It is now being stated by various media that the actual amount of money being sought in the suit is $18.9 million from either the manufacturer, owner, or both paying the sum. Apparently most media reports thought it requested the amount from both defendants. The lawsuit apparently had some complex wording that took them awhile to decipher.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2005 at 1:11 am and is filed under Smyth County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.