LG Chem Escapes Lawsuit Over Exploding Vape Battery in Texas

LG Chem Ltd. escaped a man’s personal injury lawsuit over an allegedly exploding vaping device, after a Texas appeals court ruled Tuesday that there isn’t a substantial connection between the claims and the South Korean company’s contacts in the state.

Javier Zapata sued LG Chem and its US subsidiary LG Chem America Inc. alleging that he was badly burned when his e-cigarette’s lithium-ion battery exploded and caught fire in his pants pocket. He alleged LG Chem designed, made, or marketed the battery, which he bought from a vape shop in Highlands, Texas.

But specific jurisdiction requires that the plaintiff’s claim arise from activities which the manufacturer or distributor did to serve the Texas market, the Texas Court of Appeals, Fourteenth District said. There was no evidence that Zapata’s claims arise from LG Chem’s sale of its batteries in Texas to Stanley Black & Decker or Hewlett Packard, it said.

• The case isn’t significantly different from two other cases involving LG the court has previously ruled on, so it must follow precedent, Justice Jerry Zimmerer said.
• Evidence from Zapata included a printout map of Stanley Black & Decker and LG Electronics locations, an printout allegedly from Stanley Black’s website, and a white paper on lithium-ion battery technology. The court ruled this evidence was hearsay, meaning information received from a third party that the court can’t adequately substantiate.
• Zapata’s attempt to distinguish his case—presenting US Customs and Border Protection spreadsheets that Zapata alleged showed shipments of LG Chem products throughout Texas—was for naught because the court determined this evidence was also inadmissible hearsay.
• There is no indication that the presence of Zapata’s battery in Texas was the result of purposeful availment by LG Chem as opposed to an unauthorized act by a third party, the court said.
• Justices Kevin Jewell and Frances Bourliot were also part of the panel.

LG Chem was represented by Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. Abraham, Watkins, Nichols Sorrels, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner represented Zapata.

The case is LG Chem Am. Inc. v. Zapata, Tex. App., 14th Dist., No. 14-21-00695-CV, 11/1/22.