Who's at fault?

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Laconia marina sued after explosion
By BEA LEWIS | Mar 13, 2015

LACONIA — A Bay State man who was severely injured when the personal watercraft he was trying to start exploded on Lake Winnipesaukee in 2013 has filed a lawsuit claiming the marina he hired to repair it was negligent.

Steven Mitton, then 56, of 53 Gould Ave., Andover, Massachusetts, and his 8-year-old niece, a passenger, were both thrown from the red 1999 GSX Sea-Doo when the incident occurred near Smithwood Point/Deepwood Lodges in Moultonborough on Aug. 18.

Mitton suffered a fractured pelvis and his passenger a head laceration. They were initially taken by ambulance to Lakes Region General Hospital and later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The suit filed Thursday in Belknap County Superior Court alleges that Mitton hired Irwin Marine of Laconia to make repairs on the early model watercraft the month before the incident and that as part of the work a drive starter and an exhaust gasket kit were installed.

Attorney Philip Kalil of Derry, who filed the negligence suit on behalf of Mitton and Mitton’s wife, Madelyn, claims the injured man gave “full consent” to the marina and its employees to operate the craft for the purpose of testing, inspection or delivery in connection with the repairs.

Kalil asserts that marina staff had told Mitton that the boat was fit for operation on or before the day he tried to start it and it exploded causing him severe, permanent and life-threatening injuries.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges that the marina and its staff were negligent and that they should have known of the dangerous or otherwise harmful condition that caused Mitton to be injured by the malfunction.

Because of an alleged failure to properly perform the repairs and or test and inspect it, Kalil asserts that Mitton has suffered emotional, psychological and physical harm, lost wages and earning capacity and medical expenses past and into the indefinite future.

As a result of Mitton’s injuries, the suit further claims, that Mitton’s wife has suffered the loss of her husband’s society, companionship, affection, support, spousal advice and consortium.

Court rules give the plaintiff’s until April 26 to serve Irwin Corporation, doing business as Irwin Marine notice of the suit.

The explosion of a 1996 Sea-Doo GSX in August 2008 on the California side of Lake Havasu previously sparked a lawsuit alleging that the popular watercraft manufacturer hid defects that it should have known could result in an accident.

Carlos Fandino, of Castaic, California, filed suit against Dow Chemical after it assumed ownership of Wedco Molded Products that produced molded polyurethane products exclusively in Canada, including gas tanks and gas tank filler necks sold to Bombardier, Inc.

Fandino and eight other people were injured when the watercraft exploded. Attorney Brian Panish of Los Angeles, who represented Fandino, alleged that the Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier, ignored and later concealed from the public and federal officials evidence of cracks in its vehicles’ fuel tank systems’ filler necks. They claimed four explosions have taken place after raw fuel or vapor entered the engine compartments as a result of the defect.

The company has issued three recalls to replace faulty fuel tanks in different models since 1997 – but not the model Fandino or Mitton were using.

A Los Angeles court ultimately derailed Fandino’s product liability claim and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision finding that a foreign company was not subject to jurisdiction in California as a result of placing goods in steam of commerce in Canada with knowledge that some would end up in finished products in California

http://thecitizen.villagesoup.com/p/...losion/1317264