The death of a 73-year-old man during the 2021 explosion of a stove at the home he leased was not attributable to the negligence of the appliance’s manufacturer, attorneys for two companies contend in new court papers seeking dismissal of all or some claims against their clients.
The Van Nuys Superior Court lawsuit stems from the death of Michael Stephen Sexton, who was trying to ignite a range in a garage of the home when a gas leak allegedly caused and/or contributed to by defective component parts was followed by a fire and explosion that killed the man on Feb. 5, 2021.
The plaintiffs are Ryan Stephen Beltz and Rachael Marie Beltz, the son and daughter of the decedent. The defendants include Electrolux Home Products Inc. and White Consolidated Industries Inc. The homeowner, Ron Conover was dismissed as a defendant in March by Judge Elaine W. Mandel on grounds there were no triable issues.
The same judge is now being asked to make an identical ruling, this time on the companies’ behalf in a hearing scheduled Aug. 26.
According to the firms’ court papers filed Thursday, the plaintiffs contend the stove manufactured by Electrolux “somehow” contributed to the accumulation of natural gas in the converted garage, which ignited and resulted in an explosion.
“But nearly three-and-a-half years after initiating their action and over five years after the tragic incident, plaintiffs have adduced no evidence supporting their claims,” according to the companies’ lawyers pleadings, which add that WCI did not design, manufacture or distribute the range and has no liability.
The plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages also should be stricken because they have “produced no facts to meet their heightened burden and have offered nothing more than speculation, rhetoric and recycled pleading.”
Electrolux made the stove in 2013 for Sears under the Sears brand Kenmore and Sears, which distributed and sold the range, filed for bankruptcy five years later, the companies’ attorneys state in their court papers. The range had no defects when it left Electrolux and was built according to proper standards, the firms’ attorneys’ court papers state.
Conover bought the range from Kmart, had it installed in the home’s converted garage in January 2014 and it was used by multiple occupants before Sexton and never needed repairing, the companies’ attorneys further state in their pleadings. Conover said Sexton used the stove regularly and saw his late tenant using it without any problems just days before the explosion, according to the firms’ attorneys’ court papers.
The family’s lawyers’ pleadings state Sexton was preparing food in the kitchen area when the explosion occurred and he told paramedics before he died that he attempted to light the stove when it blew up.