Microsoft, Wal-Mart sued over baby's death

While the figurative jury is still out as to whether video games harm our youth by inciting them to commit violence, loiter unnecessarily, and utter profanities, a real flesh-and-blood jury may soon be deciding if one faulty Xbox was to blame for the December 2004 death of an Illinois baby. The family of young Wade Kline is suing Microsoft, retail giant Wal-Mart, and an unnamed power supply manufacturer in state court for damages "in excess of $50,000," claiming that their console -- the suit cites a 360, though it's more likely that the it was a first-gen unit sporting one of those recalled power cord -- overheated and caused the attached wall outlet to spark what turned out to be a fatal fire. This isn't the first time we've seen Xboxes and fire go to bed together, but it may be the first attempt to hold someone accountable for the damage done, so it'll be interesting to see how the culpability gets doled out here.

[ROFLROFFLES @ May 24th 2007 6:51PM]

I think they should settle. $50,000 is a pocket change for such corp, probably even for Steve Ballmer.

But of course, now that the news broke, they have no option other than to fight back since it would introduce an unhealthy precedence of people thinking that they can just sued and get away with the money.

[Canman99 @ May 24th 2007 10:38PM]

Can't put a monetary price on a human life. No sum will suffice.

[nigel @ May 24th 2007 6:56PM]

They should be sued, these bastard companies know its crap before they ship it out. They just don't care if a little person gets injured, all they care about is our money.

[Neebs @ May 24th 2007 7:45PM]

There's no such thing as the perfect QA testing. No one can test the extremely unlikely like this.

[DJBro @ May 24th 2007 6:56PM]

uh yeah the 360 didn't come out until November 2005 so unless they got some crazy time traveling 360 that went back in time to December 2004 and killed the baby, not likely a 360.

[Don @ May 25th 2007 10:09AM]

Are you Sarah Connor?

[Bman21212 @ May 24th 2007 6:59PM]

Why would it be Microsoft or Wal-Mart's fault? They had a recall. What more can they reasonably do?

"The lawsuit claims the fatal fire occurred in December 2004, even though the Xbox 360 didn't officially launch until May 2005 -- an indication that the unit involved may actually have been a first-generation Xbox console."
Nice job getting the facts strait before filing a suit. Sets a good precedent, and makes it easy for Microsoft. "Sorry your honor, but the console was not even made at that time."

[Jesse Dacri @ May 24th 2007 7:01PM]

Er, they issued a recall publicly and they replaced the cables for free. The recall was on the damn news, too.

I have a feeling this will get shot down in MS's favor, but time will tell.

And is it really the Xbox's PSU or the cord itself? I've worked with many different Xbox power supplies before, and always thought it was that cord.

[Matt @ May 24th 2007 7:03PM]

agree 100% with Bman. once the company issues a recall, they've acknowledged that there's something wrong, and then it's up to the consumer to get a replacement, or deal with the consequences. however, if this fire happened before said recall, then Microsoft is totally at fault....

[Josh L. @ May 24th 2007 7:06PM]

Well, it's obviously a faulty, older wire, with a recall(does the recall remove legal liability?) Either way, since their only asking for $50,000 from both corporations(not even each), and since this IS the death of a baby, this will probably be seteled out of court, maybe even for more than just $50,000(I mean, come on, really, just 50k?).

They could have got away with millions, I mean it's one thing not to pay in fear of a law suit(and legally admit it's their fault) but since the lawsuit is already in place, they might aswell.

[DJBro @ May 24th 2007 7:10PM]

oh also, why did they wait 2 freakin years to start the case... statute of limitations? is it 3 years for death related cases or 1 in civil court? any lawyers in the house here, engadget?

[Mike Litchfield @ May 24th 2007 7:18PM]

Come on you monkies, Read the damn article then talk:

"Microsoft recently learned about this tragic incident that occurred in December 2004," a Microsoft spokesman said in an e-mail. "Our sympathy is with the family. However, we are not aware of any evidence that an XBox caused the fire. Also, the complaint specifically states that an XBox 360 was involved, but this version of the product was unavailable for purchase at that time."

[Michael @ May 24th 2007 7:28PM]

For the first gen X-Box the PSU is inside the console. The contacts which were soldered into the board of the psu for the jack that the power cable hooks up to would eventually break lose and could spark. Not sure how a replacement power cable was supposed to fix this problem.

[DJBro @ May 24th 2007 7:41PM]

the updated cable has a surge circuit on it which would prevent the spark from attaining a current high enough to start a fire.

[Zanzang @ May 29th 2007 10:44AM]

The cable was just meant to cut off power to the faulty PSU once it started sparking. I have a v1.1 Xbox with one of the faulty Foxlink power supplies, and last summer mine started arching as the solder joints came apart. Luckily I knew to unplug it and rework the solder on the input joints, but most people don't know to do/how to do that, which is why Microsoft just gave a band-aid solution to cover their ass from people whose houses burned down.

[bobartig @ May 24th 2007 7:30PM]

Damages in excess of $50,000... I don't think we know how much they are suing for. It seems to me that such a figure is abnormally low when you factor in that there was fire damage to their house, and that their baby is dead.

Seeing as how they can't get their story straight (blaming the fire on a product that was not yet released), I wouldn't think M$ would have much trouble getting this suit thrown out, regardless of who the real culprit is.

[HektikLyfe @ May 24th 2007 7:57PM]

I distinctly remember the recall on the original XBox cord, not the 360. Perhaps they are trying to get a 360 out of it which allows us to question the validity of their claim.

It is a horrible, horrible situation they are in. To add some unrequested levity though perhaps they will take better care of their next Baby360.

They left an infant alone for how long before the fire consumed him/her. I can't imagine how that would be Wal-Mart's fault.

[Grant @ May 24th 2007 7:57PM]

"overheated and caused the attached wall outlet to spark"

Now that sounds like fault outlet wiring.... or the fact that they should have been using a surge protector instead of overloading an outlet.
and that would be negligance.
There's way too many holes, MS's attorneys will EAT THIS ALIVE in court.

[HektikLyfe @ May 24th 2007 7:59PM]

"MS's attorneys will EAT THIS ALIVE in court."

But WILL they? Smart move. Microsoft would never defend against that. People already hate them. Then to defend themselves against the accusation that they are baby-killers. Out of court settlement I foresee.

Plus an XBox 360. Hope it doesn't overheat on them.

[Tired_ @ May 24th 2007 8:10PM]

Amusing that, for a post about a fatal fire that may be Xbox-related, that all of the relevant posts are Engadget giving away an Xbox of some kind...is that some kind of message?

[David @ May 24th 2007 8:16PM]

So uhm... where were the parents while the baby was being burnt alive????

[Jesse @ May 24th 2007 8:23PM]

that little "360" tid bit might be enough to throw the case out if microsoft can simply point out that it was an xbox NOT an xbox 360 they can get off

[tekdroid @ May 24th 2007 8:26PM]

It really comes down to people with no integrity wanting money for nothing, I feel...

[The Infamous @ May 24th 2007 8:28PM]

And somehow wal~mart is also responsible for this?

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 24th 2007 11:01PM]

Walmart was the enabler, as they are the retailer which sold the unit to the family, supposedly.

This whole thing smacks of 'half-assed.' First off, get your facts straight, or at least figure out which Xbox you actually owned. Secondly, if you're going to sue Microsoft, Walmart et al, why not go the whole 9 yards and sue the company in Korea that put the damn thing together in the first place. But why stop there, why not take the actual Korean that was supposed to QC the thing before it was boxed up?

Now I'm not a lawyer, but I do know something about house wiring. If things went down the way they say they did (that's one hell of a big 'if') then most likely this was caused by a faulty outlet, improper use of an outlet splitter or extension cord, or a combination of both. I can see microsoft being liable if the Xbox itself smoldered, and set the carpet on fire, but I find it hard to place the blame on its chared remains if the fire started at the outlet. As a rule of thumb, when electrical fires happen, they occur at the weakest link in the electrical chain. The very fact that the papers describe the outlet as being the point of ignition, well, that pretty much closes their case before the judge can pound the gavel.

[Brian @ May 24th 2007 9:01PM]

Wal-Mart near us (here in Illinois) has bright orange posters around the electronic department stating the power brick recall a while back, I think they also did this with a PS2 power cord. they have been up for quite a while.
It's truly an unfortunate thing to happen, but could have been prevented.

[Blue @ May 24th 2007 9:05PM]

You people are horrible. Microsoft manufactured a faulty product. So what if the issued a recall? Should every consumer spend all of their spare time checking to see if a recall has been issued for the 500+ products in their home at any time? Take your fanboy blinders off for a moment and think about it:

Microsoft made a faulty product that may have killed someone. They SHOULD be held accountable for that, just as any other company would be.

Microsoft needs to look into the case, and settle it if it does appear that the xbox was the cause of the fire.

That said, I fail to see how Walmart is at fault for any of this.

[aStopperBy @ May 25th 2007 1:01AM]

Not true.
Once a manufacturer has issued a recall, they legally are not responsible further damages.
Car manufacturers issue recalls all the time, but they are not sued for the problems the recall has fixed. They hold no legal responsibility once the recall has been issued.
On the other hand, it is likely Microsoft will settle this out of court anyway.

[Blue @ May 25th 2007 7:48AM]

You sir, know nothing about liability law.

[Reinhart @ May 24th 2007 9:09PM]

The REAL culprit, which seemingly is not recognized by Microsoft, is not the power cord but the power supply itself.

With Xboxes up to version 1.5, the solder joints for the cord inlet were prone to cracking, which causes several problems.

One, this increases electrical resistance on the solder joints, which increases heat, especially on leads that handle mains power. Two, it causes electrical arcs to form on the cracked joints, which can make the problem worse as well as possibly burn off the insulation on the board as well as the plastic insulation of the metal ground shielding underneath. Three, it may allow additional unintended mechanical movement of the joints which could possibly cause it to make contact with the metal ground shielding below it, which can cause a short circuit.

Later variants of the V1.5 and all V1.6 Xboxes have a modification to the way the inlet is connected which prevents this; instead of directly soldering the hard metal leads into the board, which transmits sheer forces to the joints which causes them to crack, the leads are connected by wire and the wires are soldered into place on the board, which eliminates the mechanical sheer that can cause the cracks in the first place since the force is, more or less, dissipated by the flex in the wire.

One fix for any affected Xbox is to remove the power supply and reflow the solder joints of the power inlet socket. Prevention is to minimize mechanical stress on this socket as much as possible. Another, more thorough, fix is to modify the board to where the electrical connection on the inlet socket is achieved with wires instead of the leads in much the same way newer Xbox power supplies are made.

The revised power cord with the circuit breaker only cuts power in the event that a short occurs, but does not fix the problem. The revised power cord that provides a tighter fit also does not address the underlying cause.

[Eric @ May 24th 2007 9:51PM]

As far as I can tell, there's not much of a case here.

Wal Mart did absolutely nothing wrong. They sold a console to someone who (obviously) wanted it, and that was the end. I remember the recall, and my local Wal Mart had a notice about it.

Microsoft did their part, issuing the recall. They can't very well track down every person who bought the dangerous units.

As for the power supply manufacturer... even if they had issued a recall, how many people would have paid attention? If you saw a notice from a company you'd never heard of, would you think that you had something in your house.

And unless there is a $50,000 limit for that level of the courts, putting that price on your baby's life definitely won't make you look too good in front of a judge.

[Sandra D @ May 24th 2007 10:29PM]

Ummm The baby may not have been burned, in most cases of fires death is actually a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. The adults have larger lungs, the body masses in general are larger so it would have taken longer for the adults to be overcome by the carbon monoxide.

As far as the date of the accident & the type of game system... People screw up. Who says that it was the parents & not the reporter??

Come off it people.

[Steve @ May 25th 2007 8:33AM]

Hey JohnnyCashAK,

What up with this Korean bashing? What did Koreans do to you? Is it assembler's fault the power supply design is faulty? I don't even own an Xbox yet little research indicates problem lies on the power supply manufactured by FoxLink, a Taiwanese company.

The way I see it, it's mainly M$'s fault for using cheapest supply there is with no consideration for end user.

[Lotus79 @ May 25th 2007 3:02AM]

It really is going to be interesting to see how all this plays out in the end.

[whathefah? @ May 25th 2007 5:02PM]

And you sir, seem to have watched a bit too much TV.

Hint to all: This is a civil case... there is no "beyond a reasonable doubt", no "aha!" moment re: xbox vs. xbox360, and no Grissom saving the day with the help of a stray beetle.

[Don @ May 25th 2007 10:28AM]

I think what Johnny is just saying is that if you are going to go beyond the seller of the product, you should follow the trail to the eventual conclusion and go to the retailer, the individual components manufacturers, and why stop until you get all the way down to the QA guy who does the inspection? I don't think he's "Korean bashing". Jeeze.

That said, I think he got the country wrong. Weren't most Xbox's "heche en mexico"?

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 25th 2007 2:41PM]

Uh... Steve-o... I was being facetious there chief. Don got my point exactly: in this crazy lets-sue-em-all world we live in today, why stop at just the retailer and the company that commissioned the machine? Why not go all the way, to the maker and down to the very person who's job it was to quality test before it was shipped? Hell, why not sue the company that produced the plastics and other materials used to make the thing? If you're going to bring up a BS lawsuit, why not go for broke?

I don't know which is more scary: Your lack of a sense of humor, or or the fact you actually researched who made the PSU for the original xbox. Both are pretty solid indicators that you need to get out more Steve.

[graft @ May 25th 2007 1:12PM]

Thank goodness I read Kotaku. The lawsuit clearly states that the Xbox in question was an Xbox 306. The Xbox 360 was not available at the time of the fire. Good luck with that lawsuit, golddiggers.

[chugger1992 @ May 25th 2007 6:32PM]

Not returning a overheating power cord is like... putting tin foil in a microwave, setting it for 10 minutes, and strapping your baby to a chair to watch the show.

[HandsomeDan @ May 26th 2007 12:42PM]

I hear that they had a pretty bad problem with the initial batch of 360's that launched in November 2005; you see when you take them back in time, they burn your house down. Glad they got that fixed. *Whew*

Now if I could just get them to fix my launch unit. Grr.

[Half a brain @ Aug 1st 2007 7:56PM]

Everyone seems to have a strong opinion about this, but the law is quite simple: a manufacturer can be sued either under strict liability or negligence for releasing defective products that cause injury or death to users. Additionally, a retailer can be sued under the same theories, and to the same extent, as a manufacturer, for the same defects. If Microsoft released a faulty product, they're liable, regardless of whether there was a recall. The same goes for the retailer.