A federal appellate court has ruled that online retail giant Amazon may be liable for damages after a hoverboard sold on its website caused a fire that destroyed a $1 million Tennessee home.
The Tennessean reports that the company was aware of the dangers posed by the lithium-ion batteries in the skateboard-like devices, which were manufactured in China and resulted in cases of small explosions and fires related to overheating during and after the 2015 holiday season.
The case centers around Nashville resident Megan Fox, whose two children became trapped inside their family home when a hoverboard exploded and sparked a fire in January 2016. The children were forced to leap from a second-story window to escape the blaze.
The court ruling says that Amazon discontinued selling the hoverboards after learning of the issue but failed to adequately alert more than 250,000 buyers of the danger, sending a vaguely worded email about "news reports on safety issues."
The company brought in extra staff to handle an expected surge in calls related to the devices and didn't begin issuing refunds until after the Nashville fire.
