RI Mother Sues Toshiba for $20M After Deadly House Fire, Claiming “Catastrophic Failure” of Laptop

RI Mother Sues Toshiba for $20M After Deadly House Fire, Claiming “Catastrophic Failure” of Laptop

A Rhode Island mother has filed a federal lawsuit against electronics giant Toshiba for $20 million. The lawsuit alleges there was a “catastrophic failure” of her ex-husband’s laptop that caused a deadly fire.

The 2018 blaze killed Kellie Lorenzen's ex-husband and their four-year-old son — and caused “negligent emotional distress” to her two other children, she says, who barely escaped the blaze. 

Lorenzen's lawsuit against Toshiba filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island for the fire that occurred on January 26, 2018, in Coventry took the lives of her ex-husband Edward Lorenzen and four-year-old son Michael Lorenzen -- who had autism.

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Lorenzen’s two other children survived. Her now-15 year-son was able to rescue his then 2-year-old sister from the house. The children continue to suffer severe emotional distress from the incident.

"Well, Penny's only 4 now," said Lorenzen of her daughter. "My older one — it’s tough to know about a 15-year-old. And actually, distance learning has been good. He’s had his struggles since the fire. We were doing grief counseling, but he has no interest in the online [counseling] right now."

Two Years Following Fire

Attorneys Joseph Doyle and Matthew Perkins of Lecomte, Emanuelson and Doyle filed the suit on behalf of Lorenzen asserting “wrongful death and negligence claims against defendant arising from defective laptop," with the demand listed at $20,000,000.

Lorenzen said she has been focusing her time on her two children who escaped from the fire. And, she has established the Michael Lorenzen Foundation, in honor of her autistic son. 

"The softball tourney last year raised $10,000 and we just don’t know with everything now [we'll have one this year]. Michael's birthday is July 1st — it will be our 3rd year [without him]," said Lorenzen. "The fundraisers are a way to keep busy and do something for my son still."

“It’s tough. I don’t know how much I can say [about the lawsuit],” said Lorenzen. “I hope people learn, especially now that we rely on technology so much. Who would have thought [it could happen]. I mean it’s like with anything else. You might not 100% be able to avoid a car accident. You can hope that your laptop won’t catch fire.”

Requests for comment from Toshiba's media relations, as well as the company's attornies, were not responded to. 

 

About Lawsuit

Attorneys Doyle and Perkins filed the 12-page complaint in U.S. District Court on April 24. 

The lawsuit alleges that that father was hosting the three children at his home in Coventry, "On Friday, January 26, 2018, Edward Lorenzen and his children, Z.L., P.L., and M.L., were engaging in their evening activities at Edward Lorenzen’s house located at 22 Colonial Road, Coventry, Rhode Island.

"On that date, a battery cell in a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer located in Edward Lorenzen’s living room catastrophically failed, causing the Toshiba laptop to emit a large quantity of heat and smoke. This heat source, in turn, ignited nearby household combustibles which quickly caused the house to catch fire," according to the lawsuit.

"Edward Lorenzen and M.L. were unable to escape and died in the fire. Z.L. and P.L. escaped the fire through the rear bulkhead and suffered emotional distress due to the trauma of the accident," the lawsuit states.

SLIDES: READ THE LAWSUIT BELOW

"Kellie Lorenzen now brings this action, on behalf of M.L. and Edward’s estates for wrongful death, including pre-death injuries, burial expenses; on behalf of her children, Z.L. and P.L. for loss of consortium and pecuniary damages arising from Edward’s wrongful death; on behalf of herself for loss of consortium and pecuniary damages arising from M.L.’s wrongful death; and, on behalf of Z.L. and P.L. for negligent infliction of emotional distress," states the lawsuit.

“I think it was a tragic situation — the father and son losing their lives,” Doyle said in a phone interview with GoLocalProv.

Doyle noted that the state fire marshal’s office came to the determination the fire was of “unknown origins,” but he said that was not uncommon. 

“We’ve done many cases involving electrical appliances, from telephone chargers to clothes dryers. Anything that’s powered electronically can, of course, generate heat if there’s a failure,” said Doyle. 

“The state fire marshal is primarily charged with the issue of determining if fires are intentional or not. Once they determine they are not intentional, there is not an emphasis on the cause of the fire,” he said.

“So it’s very common that the private parties continue to investigate after the state and local [authorities],” said Doyle, who said that representatives from Toshiba participated in the investigations. 

“The family has suffered greatly as a result of it. They’re filing this case in an effort to seek justice and have invested a tremendous amount of time to try and determine what caused this fire — the case reflects this,” Doyle added.

 

Fundraising in Focus

Lorenzen said if successful, she intends on putting a “significant portion of the award” to the Michael Lorenzen Foundation. 

Earlier in April, the foundation announced $5,500 in college scholarships to children with autism.

The Foundation writes:

We would like tell you a story about an amazing little boy named Michael. Michael was born in July of 2013 and was always the brightest light in the room, even from birth. His family adored his joyful spirit and his smile touched everyone he met.

This beautiful, bright-eyed child was only 4 when he perished in a house fire on January 26th, 2018. Despite our grief, we formed The Michael Lorenzen Foundation to keep his star shining.

Learn more about the foundation here.