SHERMAN – A North Texas man has brought a product liability lawsuit against a North Carolina-based home improvement retailer, recent Sherman federal court records show.
Thomas Stephen Deen alleges in the 17-page suit filed on Jan. 30 that he sustained an eye injury on Dec. 28, 2017 from using a quarter-sheet sander he purchased from Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Deen was assisting his son build a wooden car for a pinewood-derby race when the sander branded as Task Force “unexpectedly exploded launching metal shrapnel and debris out each side.”
“When the sander exploded, a large piece of metal shrapnel penetrated and embedded in the plaintiff’s right eye,” court filings state. “After the plaintiff reached for his eye to manually inspect it, the piece of metal shrapnel dislodged from his eye and fell to his garage floor.”
According to the complaint, an inspection of the sander revealed that “the metal rotor located in the bottom of the sander fractured and disintegrated, allowing metal shrapnel to explode out each side of the sander’s housing.”
“The plaintiff’s inspection also revealed that the sander’s housing failed and was unable to contain the metal fragments of the fractured rotor,” the suit says.
Consequently, Deen seeks unspecified monetary damages.
He is represented by Eugene A. “Chip” Brooker, Jr. of Brooker Law, PLLC in Dallas.
Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case No. 4:19-CV-0074