HOUSTON - The 14th Court of Appeals today dismissed a petition for a writ of mandamus brought by Samsung SDI over a discovery dispute in a product liability lawsuit alleging one of the company’s batteries exploded.
The lawsuit was brought by plaintiff Samuel Wolbrueck, who alleges that he was injured by a 18650 lithium ion battery cell that he purchased in a Houston-area vape shop.
According to Wolbrueck’s amended petition, he used the battery in his StreamLight flashlight, which was in his right front pants pocket when the injury occurred.
SDI maintains in its petition for mandamus that it has never sold a product of any type to any retail store in Texas. The company asked the 14th Court to vacate a trial court order compelling it to provide answers and responses to Wolbrueck’s discovery requests.
Court records show that on Nov. 16 SDI filed an unopposed motion to dismiss its petition, advising the 14th Court that it and Wolbrueck had reached an agreement regarding jurisdictional discovery.
“Accordingly, we grant the unopposed motion to dismiss the petition for writ of mandamus,” states the 14th Court’s opinion. “Relator’s petition for writ of mandamus is dismissed.”
Appeals case No. 14-22-00539-CV