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California Latex Verdict Sets Tone
Sonia Giordani
The Recorder
July 2000
$800k award to health worker is curtain opener for hundreds of similar cases nationwide.
Setting the stage for hundreds of cases nationwide, an Alameda County, Calif. jury July 13 found Baxter Health Care Corp. liable for manufacturing defective latex gloves and ordered the company to hand over nearly $800,000 to a health care worker.
The jury in McGinnis V. Baxter Health Care actually came back with nearly $1.13 million in compensatory damages. But the group found Baxter 70 percent negligent, leaving the company on the hook to pay closer to $800,000 to a former respiratory therapist who suffered debilitating allergic reactions after years of wearing the gloves at work. The plaintiff, Christine McGinnis, and her employer St. Joseph's Hospital of Stockton, Calif., were found 30 percent negligent but will not be required to pay the difference.
Plaintiffs' attorneys celebrated the jury's finding of strict product liability as a solid victory. The McGinnis case was the first of 40 latex glove cases in the state and hundreds more pending in federal district courts to make it through trial - and the verdict could prove a beacon for ongoing latex litigation.
Robert Grossman & Associates, LLP
7 Chesley Road
White Plains, NY 10605
tel (914) 684-0785
fax (914) 448-2698
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