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The Beltz firm pursued a products liability case for this tragic accident against Wascomat, the manufacturer of an industrial-sized washing machine that injured the plaintiff. The plaintiff activated the stop button on the washing machine that she was using at a laundromat to wash towels and linens. She then reached in to reposition the towels. As soon as she did so, the machine started to spin, causing her arm to be become entangled in the washing mechanism.
Even though Wascomat denied the existence of such, the Beltz firm was able to find many other similar occurrences wherein persons were injured because the machine failed to stop spinning as it supposed to when its front door was opened while the stop button was activated. After much investigation, the Beltz firm discovered that the stop button safety devices could be easily bypassed, thus establishing a case of design defect. Athough liability was contested on the grounds that the washing machine being used at the time of the accident had been changed and/or modified by others after it was sold, the manufacturer and the owner of the machine agreed to a pretrial settlement of $1.9 million.
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