Samsung Gets Court to End Allstate’s Broken Washing Machine Suit

Samsung Electronics America Inc. defeated Allstate’s product liability suit stemming from a leaky washing machine after the insurance company failed to demonstrate the machine was unsafe in its construction.

The spider arm of the machine corroded and broke, causing a large volume water leak that damaged the home of a couple insured by Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co. They submitted a claim for $400,724, and the insurer sued Samsung as subrogee.

But there was “no evidence showing that the spider arm broke as the result of a manufacturing defect or a deviation from Samsung’s design specifications,” which doomed Allstate’s ...