Myron (asi/278980), a Top 40 promotional products distributor, can not be held liable as a manufacturer in a court case that involves a defective power bank charger catching fire and causing damage to a home that prompted a quarter-of-a-million-dollar insurance payout, according to a June 9 ruling from the Court of Appeals of Indiana.

The fire occurred May 22, 2018, at a home in Crawfordsville, IN. After tendering insurance benefits of more than $248,000 for fire-related property damage, Erie Insurance filed a subrogation lawsuit against Maywood, NJ-headquartered Myron. A subrogation suit is one in which an insurer attempts to recoup expenses tied to a claim payment from an alleged responsible party/the party’s insurer.

The suit asserted that Myron was negligent for alleged failure to test/inspect the power bank and contended that the distributorship should bear liability, as it should be considered the manufacturer of the product under the Indiana Product Liability Act (IPLA).

In 2022, an Indiana court returned a verdict in Myron’s favor on the negligence claim. A judge also granted a motion from Myron to have the liability claim tossed out, ruling that the promo firm could not be considered the product manufacturer under IPLA.

Erie Insurance appealed the ruling that Myron could not be deemed the manufacturer to Indiana’s Appellate Court, which last week again found in favor of Myron, upholding the earlier summary judgement.

Myron didn’t make the power bank charger. It imported the item from a company that court papers identified as China-based NINGBO CStar Import & Export. Indications are NINGBO sourced the product from Shenzhen C-Star Electric Technology Company, Ltd., also based in China.

Still, Erie Insurance sought to have Myron considered the manufacturer – and thus liable. The insurer based the assertion on Indiana code that essentially states that a manufacturer’s principal distributor or seller can be classified as the manufacturer itself if the court doesn’t hold jurisdiction over the actual manufacturer but does hold such legal authority over the defective product’s principal distributor/seller.

Erie argued, in significant part, that the Indiana court didn’t have jurisdiction over Shenzhen but did over Myron – and as such Myron should be liable as the product maker. But in her written opinion, Indiana Appellate Court Judge Patricia A. Riley countered that Erie Insurance didn’t do nearly enough to prove its claim.

“Erie Insurance never named Shenzhen as a party in its lawsuit, and it conceded that it never attempted to obtain service of process on Shenzhen,” Riley wrote. “It appears that Erie Insurance did nothing other than to unilaterally decide that simply because Shenzhen is based in China, no Indiana trial court could exercise personal jurisdiction. The only evidence designated by Erie Insurance on this issue is the affidavit of a ‘senior subrogation specialist,’ who baldly stated that based upon ‘a diligent search’ of the ‘records of the Indiana Secretary of State,’ it was discovered that Shenzhen was not registered in the State of Indiana and had no contact with this state. This was wholly inadequate.”

Riley emphasized that Erie Insurance had to present more evidence that the trial court couldn’t have jurisdiction over Shenzhen in order for the manufacturer designation to transfer to Myron. “Erie Insurance failed to do so,” wrote Riley. “A mere affidavit averring that, in its own opinion, the Court of Appeals of Indiana could not obtain jurisdiction is simply not enough.”

Founded in 1949, Myron is nearing its 75^th anniversary. Myron was recently acquired by GIG Myron Holdings Inc., an investment firm led by Jeff Lederer, who is the previous owner of former Top 40 supplier Prime Line and a past member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people.

The house fire in which the court case is rooted occurred five years before the Lederer-backed firm became the owner of Myron. Lederer told ASI Media that Myron is glad to have the case concluded. “We are pleased,” he said, “with the outcome.”