west log
Benefits to State Bar of Wisconsin Members Case Highlights & Features Publicize Your
Case Results
As a service to its members, the State Bar of Wisconsin has entered into an alliance agreement with West, a Thomson Reuters business, to provide award information on Wisconsin civil jury trials, bench trials, settlements, and arbitrations.

State Bar members can:
  • Request a full case summary, free of charge
  • Submit their own case results for online publication in Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts - Wisconsin Reports, free of charge
  • Order a paid online subscription to Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts - Wisconsin Reports
  • Contact West: west.juryverdicts@thomsonreuters.com or 800-689-9378
For State Bar members submitting their own results for publication, West will:
  • Send each submitter a pdf of his/her published case as it appears online in Westlaw's® West's Jury Verdicts - Wisconsin Reports, free of charge
  • Consider highlighting and/or featuring the case in our semi-monthly "West's Jury Verdicts" article in InsideTrack, and on this web site.
State Bar of Wisconsin's InsideTrack Web Site
  • Highlights - Our attorney editors select 6 cases to highlight in the State Bar of Wisconsin's semi-monthly "InsideTrack" web site in concise one-paragaph format from the approximately 25 Wisconsin cases we publish each month in full summary format.
This Web Site
  • Case of the Month - Our attorney editors also select one case to feature in its entirety in its full summary format.
dec
Case of the Month September 2021
See below
Would you like West
to consider featuring
or highlighting your case?

» Online Submission Form
Westlaw Litigator
Your key resource
for every phase of litigation

» Learn More
Recommend Another
State Bar
Would you like West
to provide similar content
for another State Bar?

» Contact Us

Case of the Month September 2021

Riding Mower Causes User to Sustain Severe Burns

Ellyson v. Magic Circle Corp.

Case Type:
Product Liability - Lawn Mower

Specific Liability:
Gas geysered from the lawn mower tank onto plaintiff causing burns

General Injury:
Severe Burns to 70% of Body

Jurisdiction:
State: Wisconsin
Circuit Court of Wisconsin, Fourth Judicial District, Sheboygan County.


Case Name:
Ellyson v. Magic Circle Corp.

Docket/File Number:
2015-CV-000084

Result Amount:
$5,830,000


Result Date:
December 08, 2017 [Editor's Note: Although this verdict is older, it is of high interest.]

Judge:
Angela W. Sutkiewicz

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: Timothy S. Trecek, Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., Milwaukee, WI
Plaintiff: Jesse B. Blocher, Habush Habush & Rottier S.C., Waukesha, WI
Defendant: Frederick R. Tedford, Tedford & Pond L.L.C., Hartford, CT
Defendant: Lee Mickus, Taylor Anderson L.L.P., Denver, CO
Defendant: Richard A Lind, Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson, Minneapolis, MN
Defendant: David J. Turek, Gass Weber Mullins L.L.C., Milwaukee, WI
Defendant: Wendy Gunderson, Smith Gunderson & Rowen S.C., Brookfield, WI
Defendant: Joseph J. Ferris, Kasdorf, Lewis & Swietlik S.C., Green Bay, WI

Result Type:
Jury

Experts:
Plaintiff: Engineer/Machine Operator Safety: Berry, Thomas, P.E., Witchita, KS
Plaintiff: Product Safety: Deppa, Roy, Product Safety Analysis LLC, Brookeville, MD
Plaintiff: Fire and Explosion: Henderson, Richard, Southeastern Research Laboratories, Inc., Florence, SC
Plaintiff: Human Factors: Laux, Lila, Ph.D., Human Factors Consulting, Denver, CO
Defendant: CPSC Regulations: Nord, Nancy, Washington, DC
Defendant: Human Factors: Sala, Joseph, Ph.D., Exponent, Philadelphia, PA

Breakdown of Award:
Total Compensatory Award: $5,830,000
Comparative Negligence Percentage: 0

Summary of Facts:
Matthew Ellyson, a 29-year-old male landscaper had been operating a riding lawn mower manufactured by Magic Circle Corporation d/b/a Dixie Chopper, with a gas cap manufactured by The Kelch Corporation/Bemis Manufacturing Company, and purchased through HD Cline Company, for 2 to 3 hours when he stopped to check the fuel level and the gas forcibly geysered from the tank onto him and caused him to sustain burns over 70 percent of his body, resulting in 7 months of hospitalization, surgeries, skin grafts and rehabilitation. The plaintiff offered evidence that defendants Dixie Chopper and The Kelch Corporation/Bemis Manufacturing Company were each aware that similar incidents had occurred prior to the plaintiff's incident.

Circuit Court of Wisconsin, Fourth Judicial District, Sheboygan County.

Westlaw Citation:
2017 WL 11615174


This web page has been specially designed for State Bar of Wisconsin Members.
WJV Home | WJV-WisBar Home | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | © 2021 Thomson Reuters/West. All rights reserved.
Thomson Reuters logo