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Family Sues Amazon for $1M after Hoverboard Fire Destroys Their Home

By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
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By
Michal Addady
Michal Addady
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 28, 2016, 11:37 AM ET

Amazon (AMZN) hasn’t heard the end of its fire-causing hoverboards.

On Wednesday morning, the Fox family filed a lawsuit naming nine defendants, including Amazon and various sellers on the website, USA Today reports. They’re seeking $30 million in damages after a hoverboard they purchased on Amazon caught fire and burned their home down on Jan. 9. The family is also requesting that the jury consider additional financial penalties.

“The Foxes contend that Amazon and its various subsidiaries had information about the danger of this product well in advance of the Jan. 9 fire,” the family’s lawyer, Steven Anderson, told USA Today. The lawsuit states that Brian Fox, the family’s patriarch, saved two of his children from the second floor of their home. In addition to the loss of their $1 million home, most of their personal possessions were lost in the fire.

The lawsuit alleges that the Foxes thought they were purchasing a hoverboard made with a Samsung lithium iron battery, and instead were sold a counterfeit product from a fake organization.

“We’ve spent months investigating it and to this day I don’t know who manufactured this product, and it doesn’t appear that Amazon does,” Anderson added. The hoverboard was bought from a seller known as “W-Deals,” which is registered to an apartment in New York City. It’s uncertain who manufactured the product, and the seller has not responded to requests from any lawyers in this case.

Hoverboards quickly gained popularity last year, specifically around the holidays when a lot of people received them as gifts. But several self-balancing boards were catching fire, and eventually Amazon ended up banning them from the site.

Amazon could not immediately be reached for comment.

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By Michal Addady
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