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Washing machine maker sued over injury to girl's arm By CHRIS BRISTOL PORTLAND -- The mother of an 11-year-old Central Point girl whose arm was mangled so badly by a washing machine that it had to be amputated at the elbow has sued the manufacturer for $9.3 million. Attorneys for Rebecca Newcomb filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, challenging the safety of washing machines made by Cleveland-based White Consolidated Industries and sold under the brand names White-Westinghouse and Frigidaire. According to the complaint, Amber Newcomb, then 9, was seriously injured in 1998 when she tried to add some towels to a load of laundry. The White-Westinghouse washer continued to churn, the girl's right hand became entangled in the towels, and the rotating action of the agitator pulled her arm into the machine. The girl's hand and arm were partly severed in the accident, the lawsuit said. After six surgeries in four weeks, doctors at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland were forced to amputate the arm at the elbow. Linda Eyerman, a Portland attorney who represents the plaintiffs, said the washing machine that injured the girl was not equipped with a simple on-off switch that stops movement when the lid is open. The design is dangerous, Eyerman said. "If it had an interlock or some other type of cutoff switch which stopped the movement, the injury could have been prevented," Eyerman said. "It not only could have, it would have." Despite notification of the girl's injury, the company has never announced a recall or redesigned its machines, Eyerman added. White Consolidated Industries is the American division of A.B. Electrolux, a Swedish conglomerate that is the largest appliance maker in the world. White Consolidated also markets other types of appliances under brand names Tappan, Gibson and Kelvinator. The company did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment. The lawsuit also named Costco Wholesale, where the Newcomb family bought the washing machine in Medford, as a co-defendant. A spokeswoman at store headquarters in Issaquah, Wash., said she had not heard of the suit and refused to comment. Eyerman said she was unaware of similar lawsuits against White Consolidated. She said other people have been injured before by washing machines made by the company, but she was unsure of the details. "A lot of that information is not available until after the lawsuit is filed," she said, referring to the pre-trial discovery process. The suit seeks up to $9 million in non-economic damages for pain and suffering, as well as $300,000 or more in medical expenses. Under Oregon law, plaintiffs cannot sue for punitive damages without judicial approval. Surgeries meant to save the girl's hand and arm disfigured her back and legs, the suit said. Veins from her legs were used to graft arteries, and muscles from her back were used to replace tissue and skin. Eyerman said her client's purpose in bringing the lawsuit was twofold: compensation for her daughter's injury, and product safety. After the accident, the Newcomb family bought a different brand washing machine with a cutoff switch. "She's interested in helping her daughter," Eyerman said, "but she's also interested in doing what she can to keep this from happening to anyone else." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA