EAST ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge David Dugan, who granted default judgment against Chinese electric sock maker Global Vasion in a wrongful death suit in 2021, has set a hearing on Nov. 15 to determine damages.
Global Vasion, and second defendant Amazon, briefly shared counsel from the Lewis Rice firm in St. Louis, but the sock maker fired the firm and dropped out.
Dugan’s default order provided for a hearing at the conclusion of the case.
His order for a hearing stated that Amazon and plaintiff Sandra Scott settled.
Settlement relieves Dugan of a duty to decide whether Amazon acted as seller.
Scott sued Global Vasion and Amazon in December 2020 as estate administrator for husband Floyd Scott.
Her counsel, Mark Schuver of Belleville, claimed Floyd Scott wore electric socks for three hours, went to bed, and found burns on his foot the next day.
Schuver claimed Scott’s injuries resulted in death.
He alleged inadequate design, warning, and instructions.
Thomas Berra moved to dismiss Amazon in January 2021, claiming it didn’t sell the socks.
He moved to withdraw the firm as Global Vasion’s counsel in March 2021, stating further representation would result in an unreasonable financial burden.
Berra stated Global Vasion failed to fulfill an obligation and Lewis Rice reasonably warned that it would withdraw.
Global Vasion didn’t respond, and the court clerk entered default in April 2021.
Dugan denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss, finding it didn’t show the claim was implausible.
Scott moved for default judgment against Global Vasion in July 2021, and Dugan granted it.
He found he must determine the appropriate relief by setting a hearing on damages.
“At the hearing, Plaintiff may present any evidence or testimony related to damages she is owed for her injuries in this action,” he wrote.
Amazon moved for summary judgment this May after deposing Floyd Scott’s widow and his stepdaughter, Shana Anderson.
Berra claimed Anderson bought the socks knowing that Scott was diabetic with peripheral neuropathy and that he suffered numbness in his feet.
“Despite this and her nursing background she did not do any research to determine whether heated socks were appropriate for someone with Mr. Scott’s condition,” he wrote.
Berra claimed Anderson stated that once Floyd Scott was diagnosed with diabetes, they started learning about it and they learned not to use heating pads.
He claimed that when Anderson purchased heated socks, Sandra Scott didn’t question her about it.
He offered reasons to doubt the socks caused death.
Berra claimed Floyd Scott didn’t want to go to a hospital, but Sandra Scott convinced him to go.
“Mr. Scott visited a wound clinic a few times but stopped going because Ms. Scott disagreed with the course of treatment,” he wrote.
Berra claimed Scott’s physician noted in March 2019 that the wound showed no signs of infection and was healing well.
He added that Scott’s existing heart condition worsened, which resulted in returning him to Missouri Baptist Hospital where he died in May 2019.
He claimed Scott’s doctor listed the cause of death as congestive heart failure and didn’t list a foot wound as a potential or contributing cause.
Berra also denied seller status again, claiming Amazon warehoused the socks and arranged for UPS to ship them.
He claimed Anderson testified that customer reviews motivated the purchase.
“Reviews by third party customers are not promises by Amazon,” he wrote.
Scott didn’t oppose the motion, and on Oct. 2, Dugan posted notice of a settlement.