Childers v. Home Depot et al

Case Background

Sara Childers filed a product liability lawsuit against Home Depot and TTI Consumer Power Tools after she mangled three fingers and fractured another when her hand became caught in a “planer” that was being used to plane a cedar board.

Sara Childers filed the case in the United States District Court, Oregon. Judge Marco A. Hernandez presided over the case. [Case number: 3:23-547]

Cause

In March 2020, Plaintiff Sara Childers purchased a planer from Defendant Home Depot in Washington State. Defendant TTI Consumer Power Tools manufactured the planer and designed it to smooth and shape rough wood.

Nearly a year later, on March 8, 2021, Childers used the planer at her home near Ten Mile Lake, Oregon. She was working on a rough cedar board for her cabin. Wearing gloves, she inserted the board into the planer.

Childers recalled that the planer suddenly stopped and started. When it restarted, the machine unexpectedly pulled the board into the blades, along with her gloved hand. She became trapped in the planer for nearly an hour. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived at the scene. After contacting the manufacturer, EMS received instructions on how to roll her hand back out of the planer.

The injury was severe, with three of her fingers almost completely severed.

Injury

Childers’ fingers were struck by the blades and three of them were mangled. The blades fractured a fourth finger and injured her dominant hand.

Damages

If the trial proceeded to damages, the jury could grant Childers both economic and non-economic damages.

Key Arguments and Proceedings

Legal Representation

  • Plaintiff(s): Sara Childers
    • Counsel for Plaintiff(s): Kimberly O. Weingart | Rachel M. Jennings
  • Defendant(s): Home Depot and TTI Consumer Power Tools
    • Counsel for Defendant(s): Jeffrey R. Williams | David Kempen | Timothy J. Fransen

Claims

Childers sued the defendants, Home Depot and TTI Consumer, claiming the planer was defective. She argued that it lacked a guard to prevent hand injuries. Childers pointed out that the planer had the potential to jam and suddenly lurch, which is exactly what occurred in her case. As a result, her hand was pulled into the machine.

As she moved her case forward to trial, Childers added claims of both defective design and negligence.

Defense

The Defendants described the planer as a very safe product and noted that no prior incidents had been reported. To explain the accident, the defendants argued that it must have been caused by misuse on Childers’ part. They suggested that she had placed her hand in a dangerous position. Furthermore, they contended that it was impossible for her hand to be “sucked” into the planer, as Childers had described.

Jury Verdict

The case was tried in Portland over six days. On July 22, 2024, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Childers. She won on both the design and negligence claims. However, the jury also found that Childers had been negligent. Despite this, they ruled in her favor, deciding that her negligence was not the proximate cause of her injury.

Next, the jury considered damages. Childers received $1,194,716 in economic damages and an additional $10,000,000 for non-economic damages. The total verdict for Childers amounted to $11,194,176. A consistent judgment was then entered in her favor.

Court Documents:

Available upon request