HOUSTON - A woman who received 22 stitches after a dishwasher door fell on her leg will get $350,000 from the landlords who never repaired the appliance, a Houston jury has ruled.
Jurors on April 4 returned a verdict for Cheryl Daniels and against Nausheen and Hasan Adnan, finding the couple 70% at fault for Daniels' injuries. The trial judge, Beau Miller, also on April 4 granted a directed verdict for Fidelity National Home Warranty Company following the three-day trial.
The jury awarded $50,000 on each of 10 counts, then the verdict was reduced by 30% to reflect the amount of fault apportioned to Daniels.
The property at issue is in Katy. Daniels signed a 13-month lease in January 2018 but wasn't able to "safely occupy" it until April of that year, the complaint says.
"Upon moving in, she discovered several unsafe conditions throughout the property," it adds. "One such issue was a malfunctioning dishwasher door."
Williams Hart & Boundas represented Daniels, filing her complaint in May 2020. Insurers and repair companies were involved in the case at various times.
It was Kintex Plumbing that was called in to fix the door in July 2018, but its employee said it would need to be replaced. That never happened and in January 2019, Daniels tried to latch the dishwasher door but the latch failed.
The door fell open and cut Daniels' leg. An ambulance took her to the hospital, where she received 22 stitches. Her lawsuit alleged gross negligence, considering the Adnans were sent a number of repair requests and never replaced the door after Kintex said needed to be.
The complaint sought more than $1 million but jurors stopped well short of that. Alex Repairs was once a defendant but was nonsuited by Daniels, leading Fidelity to ask for a directed verdict in its favor on March 25.
The claim against the warranty company rested on a vicarious liability claim, but when Alex Repairs left the case, Fidelity said it should too.
FNHW had dispatched Alex Repairs in June 2018 to inspect the dishwasher, as an independent contractor.
"FNHW files this motion because there are no claims for negligence or gross negligence against Alex Repairs currently pending before the Court. As such, FNHW cannot be held vicariously liable for any purported acts and/or omissions of Alex Repairs when Plaintiff has no claims for negligence or gross negligence against Alex Repairs," the motion said.
The Adnans in February asked for a trial postponement but were rebuffed. They said the April 1 date interfered with a "major religious observance" as well as prior travel commitments for conferences.
Sean McCarthy, Jim Hart and P. Griffin Bunnell of Williams Hart & Boundas represent Daniels.