Legal Question in Personal Injury in Maryland

i recently bought a stainless steal water bottle from old navy. I went to go wash it and the rim on the inside of the bottle cut my middle finger in 4 spots, not bad. But i have on cut on my pointer finger that is cut bad and hurts, pus has came from it and now i have pain shooting up to the knuckle. Old navy wants me mail the water bottle back to them for them to look at and send me a $20 gift card, but i not sure if i should do that or not. What should i do? Thanks so much. Brandy


Asked on 12/10/09, 6:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

You are obviously thinking about whether to file a legal claim against Old Navy. Actually, if the product is manufactured by someone else and ON is just the distributor, they wouldn't be legally responsible as long as they don't alter the product before selling it to the consumer, unless they market it as an Old Navy product. In all likelihood the bottle was manufactured in some foreign country.

I think you should follow the course of your recovery to see how serious it is. If if (hopefully) turns out to be temporary and you make a fairly quick and complete recovery, then it probably wouldn't make economic sense to pursue it, because if you had to file a lawsuit you might have to hire an engineering expert to exam the bottle and be willing to testify that the defect was the result of a design or manufacturing defect for which the manufacturer should be held liable. If the injury turns out to be more serious and possibly has some lasting consequences, I recommend you consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can evaluate the case.

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Answered on 12/15/09, 7:03 am


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