Samsung can’t void $10M judgment in exploding battery case

In its ruling Monday, the appeals court said the suit was properly filed in Chatham County, where Brewer was living in July 2019 when he alleged the battery exploded while he was at home. For that reason, the $10.8 million judgment can stand, the court said.

“While Brewer alleged in his complaint that he was a resident of Effingham County at the time he filed his complaint, the complaint alleged that the explosion happened at 330 Katama Way in Pooler, Georgia, which is in Chatham County,” the court said.

The appeals court also said Samsung was too late in its attempt to avoid liability, though it made “compelling arguments” in its defense.

“Because we have reversed the trial court’s order setting aside the final judgment, there is now a valid final judgment that was entered before Samsung moved to open default, and so default cannot now be opened,” the appeals court said.

Attorneys for Samsung did not immediately respond to questions about the case.

Michael Terry, an attorney for Brewer, said the $10.8 million judgment is fair based on Brewer’s permanent and severe injuries. He said Samsung has spent almost five years trying to overturn the award.

“Today’s rulings by the Court of Appeals should be the end of those efforts,” Terry said Monday. “We look forward to Mr. Brewer finally receiving the compensation for his painful burn injuries that the trial judge found was appropriate almost five years ago.”

Brewer said in case filings he needed skin grafts and surgeries on his severely burned leg, which was extremely painful. He said he has permanent scarring.

Samsung told the appeals court it tried to contact Brewer’s lawyers early in the litigation and then inadvertently let the deadline for filing a response to his complaint pass. The company said it was not aware Brewer had sought a default judgment against it or that a hearing was scheduled to determine damages.

“For all of its good-faith efforts to work with Brewer’s counsel, Samsung got tagged with a $10.8 million default judgment for an incident it had nothing to do with,” the company said in a November 2024 appellate brief. “This outcome is a clear violation of Georgia’s strong public policy in favor of resolving cases on the merits.”

In similar exploding battery cases filed in Georgia and other states, the issue of proper venue has been hotly debated. Foreign companies that manufacture batteries, including Samsung and LG Chem, have been successful in getting some cases thrown out by arguing they lack the necessary ties to the place in which they were sued.

In March 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in, saying manufacturers with a global reach can expect to be sued in states where they do a substantial amount of business.

In September 2021, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld a Cobb County judge’s decision allowing LG Chem to be sued there by a man claiming he was seriously injured when an LG battery in an electronic cigarette device exploded in his pants pocket. The Georgia Supreme Court declined to review that decision.