A recent lawsuit involving a 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan shows how a feature meant for comfort can become dangerous when a product is not safely designed, tested, or controlled. According to the case summary, Emily LaPrade, a paraplegic woman, says she suffered second-degree burns after using the heated passenger seat in her husband’s vehicle. Volkswagen asked the court to dismiss the claims before trial, but U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright allowed the design defect claim to move forward.
The ruling does not mean Volkswagen has been found liable. It means the case has advanced, and a jury may now decide whether the heated seat became too hot to be safe. According to the case summary, Volkswagen’s own expert testing showed that the seat reached temperatures above burn thresholds set by industry standards and stayed hot longer than those standards recommended.
For New Jersey injury victims and families, this case shows how preventable negligence can happen in everyday settings, including vehicles, nursing homes, workplaces, hospitals, and private homes. When a product, company, facility, or care provider fails to take reasonable safety measures, the result can be a serious injury that should never have happened. In the most severe cases, preventable negligence can lead to catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, or wrongful death.
At Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C., our New Jersey personal injury attorneys have handled burn injury cases, defective product lawsuits, nursing home negligence claims, wrongful death claims, and catastrophic injury matters for decades. The firm has recovered more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements and has helped more than 40,000 clients and families throughout New Jersey and New York. When negligence causes serious harm, our attorneys work to identify every responsible party and pursue every available source of compensation for the injured person and their family.
The Volkswagen Tiguan Burn Injury Lawsuit
Emily LaPrade is a paraplegic woman who was injured in a 2014 car accident, leaving her with no mobility below her hips and limited sensation below her T10 vertebrae. According to court filings, she was sitting in the front passenger seat of her husband’s 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan on September 4, 2023, when she used the seat heater on high for about 30 minutes and then on medium for about an hour. She later discovered second-degree burns on her buttocks.
Volkswagen asked the court to dismiss the claims before trial, but U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright allowed the design defect claim to move forward. The court found that a jury should decide whether the heated seat was unsafe under the consumer expectations test. The test evaluates whether an ordinary consumer would expect a heated car seat to become hot enough to cause burns.
The court dismissed LaPrade’s failure-to-warn claim, which argued that Volkswagen did not provide enough safety information about the risks of the heated seat. The court found that the vehicle manual included a warning for people with reduced sensation and that the warning followed industry standards. However, the design defect claim survived. That means the case can still move forward on the separate question of whether the seat heater itself was unreasonably dangerous.
Burn Injuries Cause Serious and Lasting Harm
Burn injuries affect hundreds of thousands of people in the United States each year. The American Burn Association reports that there were 398,000 fire or burn-related injuries in 2021, along with 252,000 injuries involving hot objects or hot substances, including contact burns.
Older adults face a much higher risk of serious harm from burns than those with disabilities. The U.S. Fire Administration reports that people age 65 and older have an increased risk of dying in a fire, especially when physical or mental disabilities make it harder to escape danger. The CDC has also reported that older adults can have a harder recovery after burn injuries because of age, medical conditions, and slower healing.
Limited mobility can make a burn injury worse, but it does not make the injury the victim’s fault. A person who needs help moving may not be able to get away from heat, hot water, fire, or a defective product in time. A person with reduced sensation may not feel the injury before serious damage has already occurred.
In nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and other care settings, these risks should be part of the safety plan from the start. Staff should know when a resident or patient has limited mobility, reduced sensation, dementia, paralysis, neuropathy, or another condition that increases the risk of injury. When those risks are ignored, a preventable burn can cause permanent injuries, life-threatening complications, or death. Families may have grounds to speak with a New Jersey burn injury lawyer, nursing home negligence attorney, or wrongful death attorney about their legal options.
When a Defective Product Causes Burns, the Injury Could Have Been Preventable
Defective product cases often come down to design, testing, warnings, and foreseeable use. In the Volkswagen Tiguan case, the issue is not only that LaPrade was injured. The issue is whether the heated seat became hotter than a consumer would reasonably expect, and whether proper design or testing should have prevented that danger.
A heated seat is a luxury feature. Consumers expect it to provide comforting warmth, not second-degree burns. If a product can reach burn-level temperatures during normal use, the manufacturer may have to answer forhow the product was designed, tested, and sold.
In cases like this, a New Jersey defective product lawyer may review temperature data, engineering records, diagnostic information, safety standards, product testing, safer design options, and expert opinions. In the Tiguan case, LaPrade’s legal team used diagnostic data and infrared thermometer testing to present evidence about the seat temperature. The court left the larger safety question for the jury to decide.
A Victim’s Vulnerability Should Not Be Used Against Them
One of the most important parts of the Volkswagen ruling is how the court handled LaPrade’s disability. Volkswagen argued that she was not an ordinary consumer because of her paraplegic condition, but the judge did not accept that as a reason to dismiss her design defect claim.
This argument comes up often in serious injury cases. Defendants may point to a person’s age, disability, medical condition, paralysis, dementia, neuropathy, frailty, or limited mobility as though the injury was unavoidable. In many cases, that misses the point that the hazard should not have existed in the first place.
A person’s vulnerability does not excuse preventable negligence. In many cases, it makes safety more important.
This issue also comes up in nursing home negligence, elder negligence, and wrongful death cases. Facilities may argue that a resident was already fragile or medically complicated. An experienced New Jersey nursing home negligence attorney can bring the focus back to the real legal questions. Did the facility know, or should it have known, about the risk? Did it take reasonable steps to prevent harm? Did its failure cause the injury or death?
Davis, Saperstein & Salomon’s Experience with Burn Injuries, Nursing Home Negligence, and Wrongful Death Claims
Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. has handled many serious burn injury cases, nursing home negligence cases, defective product lawsuits, wrongful death claims, and catastrophic injury matters. These cases often require medical proof, expert testimony, careful investigation, and real trial experience.
Founding Partner Samuel L. Davis, Esq. has extensive experience handling serious injury and wrongful death cases involving burns, medical vulnerability, and complex negligence. One especially relevant case involved a quadriplegic nursing home resident who suffered severe burns that led to the loss of his legs and ultimately resulted in death. The firm won a $900,000 nursing home negligence settlement for the financial and emotional harm the client’s family suffered.
In that nursing home burn case, the facts required more than proving that a burn occurred. Sam Davis built the case around the nursing home’s duty to protect a resident who was medically vulnerable and unable to protect himself. The resident could not feel pain as he had previously been paralyzed from the neck down, move away from danger, or call attention to the injury in the same way another person might. Sam Davis focused on how the burn happened, why the risk was foreseeable, and what the facility should have done to prevent it.
Through medical evidence, facility records, and expert testimony, Sam Davis showed that the resident’s vulnerability made proper care more important, not less. He also prevented the defense from using the client’s condition as an excuse for the facility’s negligence. By keeping the focus on the evidence and the nursing home’s duty of care, Sam Davis held the facility accountable and secured a $900,000 settlement in a case involving severe burns, nursing home negligence, and ultimately wrongful death.
When reflecting on the case, Sam Davis stated, “What stayed with me most was the trust this family had placed in the nursing home. Their loved one was there because he needed care and protection. When that trust was violated, our job was to uncover the truth, prove why this should never have happened, and make sure the family’s loss was not dismissed as just another incident and injury with no consequence. The $900,000 settlement held the facility accountable and recognized the full weight of what this unfortunate man and his family endured.”
Sam Davis has built a career around serious personal injury litigation. He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, a distinction held by fewer than 2% of New Jersey lawyers. His case results include many multimillion-dollar settlements and jury verdicts. The New Jersey Law Journal has recognized him for achieving the highest reported settlement or jury verdict for the 2022-2023 court term, a $28 million settlement for a worker who suffered burn injuries over more than 60% of his body after an electrical panel explosion.
It was the nursing home burn case lawsuit, handled by attorney Sam Davis, that started his academic study of the cause and origin of fires and explosions, and their resulting burn injuries. As a son of a physician, he became fascinated with the medical subspeciality of burn and wound care; so much so that he has attended several medical burn conferences to learn about burn treatment, skin grafting, scar revision, and dealing with the emotional trauma associated with burn injuries. As a civil trial lawyer certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, he has successfully won several million-dollar settlements and verdicts for individuals who have suffered catastrophic burn injuries, including another settlement for $8 million involving sisters burned by a defective heating device. During the past decade, Davis has assembled a team of nationally known expert witnesses as well as trial attorneys who concentrate on representing burn victims throughout the United States and Territories. He even helped a family obtain justice when they lost a child attending medical school due to an explosion in the Caribbean Island of Nevis.
Contact a New Jersey Personal Injury Attorney
A serious burn injury can lead to emergency care, hospitalization, wound treatment, infection, scarring, skin grafts, surgery, pain, emotional distress, and long-term medical needs. Some burn victims lose mobility or independence. Some cannot return to work. In the most serious cases, burn injuries can lead to fatal complications and wrongful death.
A New Jersey burn injury lawyer can investigate who may be responsible. In a defective product case, the claim may involve a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or another company in the product chain. In a nursing home negligence case, the claim may involve the facility, staff, management company, ownership group, or insurance carrier. When negligence causes death, the family may also have a wrongful death claim.
Compensation may include medical bills, future care, pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, lost income, loss of independence, and wrongful death damages when negligence causes a fatal injury. Our team can investigate what happened, identify who may be responsible, and pursue the full measure of the damages and compensation you and your family deserve. For further information about how a burn injury lawyer can help,contact Samuel L. Davis, Esq at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C at 1-(800)529-2000 for a free and confidential consultation.
