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Allegedly defective tools and hardware from a China-based seller on Amazon have been linked to two deaths and at least one serious injury — the latest in an alarming spike in product liability lawsuits against the Seattle-based e-tailing giant, The Post has learned.

On March 25, 2024, Jacob “Jake” Todd — 30-year-old father of three in Menifee, Calif. — was working under his Toyota Tacoma when a car jack hed bought on Amazon from Vevor, a Shanghai-based third-party seller, buckled and broke.

The grisly mishap caused fatal blunt force trauma,” according to a January lawsuit filed on behalf of his sons in California state court in Riverside County.

In February, an Alabama truck driver, James Ryan Stokes, was using a Vevor “chain load binder” to tie down items on his flatbed truck when the chain broke, sending him violently backwards and fatally breaking his neck, according to William Poole, a lawyer hired by Stokes family. 

The 49-year-old trucker left a wife and six children who are preparing a lawsuit against Amazon, Vevor and Austal USA, a ship manufacturer in Mobile, Ala. where the accident happened, according to Poole. 

It was the first time he was using the Vevor product, Poole added.

Vevor which has previously drawn whistleblower complaints to US agencies about allegedly fake reviews on Amazon, as reported by The Post also has amassed 1,430 Better Business Bureau complaints over allegedly faulty products and poor customer service.

Meanwhile, the number of overall product liability cases against Amazon has spiked between 2020 and 2024, when the lawsuits more than doubled to 84 in federal court alone, according to Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company that provides legal data analytics.

“Although the number of federal cases are small compared to Amazon’s [size] the trend shows an identifiable, steady increase of product liability cases that could be reflected in state court as well where the majority of these cases are filed,” Ron Porter, Lex Machina’s legal data expert for product liability told The Post.

Most of the 84 cases have either been settled or dismissed on procedural grounds, although the breakdown isn’t clear, Porter added.

Amazons liability over defective third-party products has become a thorny question, with laws and legal outcomes varying from state to state. The company has typically argued that it is not directly responsible for products sold on its site that are manufactured by outside firms.  

In 2020, a California state appeals court ruled that Amazon was liable for injuries caused to Angela Bolger, who suffered severe burns from an exploding laptop battery from a third-party Chinese seller called Lenoge Technology. Lenoge, which was named as a defendant, did not appear in court.

Whatever term we use to describe Amazons role, be it retailer, distributor, or merely facilitator, it was pivotal in bringing the product here to the consumer, the appeals court ruled at the time. 

While other states have sided with Amazon in similar cases, the Bolger case is a favorable precedent for plaintiffs especially where they seek restitution from a third-party seller based in China or another country overseas, according to Keith Hylton, a law professor at Boston University.

If I had to make a prediction, I would guess the Bolger case will be accepted in most jurisdictions, Hylton said in an interview.

I dont think courts will accept an outcome where Amazon sells dangerously defective products made by foreigners in places where Americans have no legal recourse and escapes liability, Hylton added. Holding Amazon liable will force it to do some monitoring, or at least to charge a price that will cover the costs Amazon will bear in compensating injured consumers.

Amazon did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

As recently as May 28, Amazon was still listing the Vevor products that were involved in the two deaths. That’s despite customer reviews that have flagged safety issues — including one purporting to be from a friend of Todd.

“A very good friend of mine died using one of these vevor stands,” the reviewer wrote. “Got crushed when one of the legs failed and what he was welding fell on him, total weight was like 3000lbs supported by 2 of these. RIP jake.”

Vevor, for its part, denies all the allegations in the car jack complaint and declined to comment on the Alabama case as it has not yet been filed, according to a statement from its attorney, Alan Tan.

“As regards [to] the larger question of quality,” Tan added, “we must say that the existence of the above lawsuit against us does not imply in any manner that products sold by us are quality inferior.”

Tan pointed to a return and refund rate in the US of 3% as evidence of the quality of Vevor’s products.

Tan addressed the California wrongful death case in a March 25 letter to a do-it-yourself influencer on YouTube Jeff King of Den of Tools. King recently posted Tan’s letter on YouTube in which Tan responded to a previous Den of Tools post about Vevors products causing deaths and injuries.

Vevor hired a local California litigator who is “working together with the lawyer hired by Amazon to proactively prepare filing answer against the complaint,” according to Tan’s letter.

The letter caught the attention of the Todd family’s lawyer, Vanessa Pena.

It raises questions that they contacted Amazons attorneys to work directly with them,” Pena told The Post.

She added that Vevor reached out to Amazon before it responded to the wrongful death lawsuit on April 10. “It infers me to me that they have a relationship with Amazons attorneys.”

The letter from Tan also claims that Vevor is being unfairly attacked with litigation in the US, where it’s facing at least a half-dozen patent and trademark cases alleging that it’s selling knockoffs.

You correctly pointed out that companies doing business in the US get sued because Americans like to sue no matter who you are or how well you behave, Tan wrote to King.

Colby Lord of Huntsville, Texas fell more than 40 feet when the “Vevor half body safety harness he had purchased on Amazon fell apart while he was trimming a tree. He fractured both ankles, his back and left hand, according to his lawyer, Sam Palermo, a partner in the Sorrels personal injury law firm.

Lord’s fall resulted in serious and lasting injuries, according to a complaint filed against Vevor and several affiliated companies in federal court in Houston, Texas in October.

Amazon is not a defendant in that case. In 2021, Texas’ highest court ruled that Amazon cannot be held liable for injuries caused by a third-party seller’s product that the e-commerce giant shipped from its warehouse.

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Reds’ Burns fans 1st 5 hitters in his MLB debut

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Reds' Burns fans 1st 5 hitters in his MLB debut

CINCINNATI — Rookie Chase Burns became the first starting pitcher in the expansion era to strike out the first five batters he faced in his major league debut.

He was not able to carry the momentum through the rest of the game.

The 22-year old Cincinnati Reds right-hander, the second overall pick in last July’s amateur draft, allowed three runs over five innings Tuesday night in a 5-4, 11-inning win over the New York Yankees.

Burns struck out his first five batters before Jazz Chisholm Jr‘s single. He gave up six hits and struck out eight, the seventh Cincinnati starter to have at least that many in his first career start.

“We watched for everything,” Reds manager Terry Francona said of Burns. “He didn’t get too excited. I think he enjoyed the competition. There’s a lot to like.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Burns also joined the Yankees’ Al Leiter and Tampa Bay’s Wade Davis as the only pitchers since 1961 whose first six outs in their debuts were strikeouts. Both gave up a run during the first two innings.

Burns struck out seven of the his first 10 hitters and allowed only one hit until Ben Rice led off the fourth by connecting on a hanging slider that went 413 feet and two-thirds of the way into the right field sun deck at Great American Ball Park.

Aaron Judge followed with a base hit. Burns retired the next two hitters, Chisholm got aboard with a single and Anthony Volpe hit a two-run triple when center fielder TJ Friedl made an ill-advised dive and the ball got by him.

“I think he’s a good pitcher,” Francona said. “I don’t think him giving up a couple runs is going to make somebody fold. If that was the case, we wouldn’t have brought him up.”

Burns averaged 98.1 mph with 48 fastballs, topping out with a pair at 100.1 mph in the first inning. He threw 24 sliders, eight changeups and one curveball. New York was 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in his first time through the order and 5-for-9 with a triple and home run the second time through.

Burns threw 53 of 81 pitches for strikes. His first big league pitch was a 98.4 mph fastball to Trent Grisham that just caught the inside corner of the plate. He got Judge to chase a 91.1 mile slider for the third out in the first inning.

“I guess you have to say Judge. I have watched him. He’s a big dude and one of the best hitters in the game,” Burns said when asked if any one strikeout stood out more than the others. “It was probably my favorite one.”

Burns fell behind 3-0 on three of the first 10 batters before ending up with strikeouts, and started 11 of 21 batters with strikes and induced 12 swing and misses. He is the fifth first-round selection from last year’s draft to reach the majors, joining Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, Angels second baseman Christian Moore and Astros outfielder Cam Smith, who was selected by the Cubs before going to Houston in the Kyle Tucker trade last December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Latz’s no-hit bid could land him in Texas rotation

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Latz's no-hit bid could land him in Texas rotation

BALTIMORE — Jacob Latz might have earned a spot in the Texas Rangers‘ rotation.

Manager Bruce Bochy says he’ll consider it.

“Of course,” Bochy said. “He’s a weapon whether he starts or he’s in the bullpen, but he’s stretched out. You’ve heard me say he’s got starter’s stuff.”

Latz took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Tuesday night against Baltimore, and although the Rangers blew a four-run lead, they recovered to win 6-5 in 10 innings. Latz set career highs in innings pitched (six-plus) and pitches (88) and lowered his ERA on the season to 3.22.

“I don’t know the plans going forward. I was kind of just trying to soak it all up today,” Latz said. “It was just a lot of fun out there.”

In his third career start and second of the season, Latz didn’t allow a hit until Ramon Laureano singled to center to start the bottom of the seventh. A walk later, Latz was removed, but a 4-0 Texas lead didn’t last much longer.

Chris Martin came on and gave up homers to each of his three batters — Gary Sanchez, Ramon Urias and Ryan O’Hearn — and left with the Rangers down 5-4. But a sacrifice fly by Jonah Heim the following inning tied it, and Evan Carter slid home safely on Sam Haggerty‘s grounder in the 10th.

Latz walked three and struck out four — including the last three hitters of the fifth inning. His previous longest outing in the majors was Thursday, when he threw 5 2/3 innings of relief in a loss to Kansas City.

“That’s one of the better jobs in all of baseball — to be a starting pitcher,” Latz said. “I’m not going to say I don’t want to be a starting pitcher. Obviously I do. I’m comfortable either way obviously. If it’s in the rotation, it’s great.”

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Pirates remove Cruz after he loses track of outs

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Pirates remove Cruz after he loses track of outs

MILWAUKEE — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz said he lost track of the outs when he didn’t run out a double-play grounder, a move that led to his removal in his club’s 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

The Pirates trailed 7-3 and had a runner on first with one out in the seventh when Cruz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Cruz slowed down after the Brewers got the force play at second, and he said afterward he believed that was the third out of the inning.

Pirates manager Don Kelly removed Cruz in favor of a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and said it was due to Cruz’s “energy and effort going down the line.” Cruz said after the game he understood Kelly’s decision.

“DK had all the rights to do what he did, and I’ll back him up on that,” Cruz said through an interpreter. “It was my fault because I thought there were two outs in that situation. That’s why I let off running to first base.”

Kelly said he explained to Cruz the reason for the benching.

“We talked,” Kelly said. “He knows the expectation. Right there, I feel we fell a little short.”

When he was asked whether Cruz would be back in the starting lineup Wednesday, Kelly was noncommittal.

“We’re going to sit down and talk, and we’ll figure that out,” Kelly said.

Cruz, 26, has batted just .156 (12-of-77) with 31 strikeouts this month after having a productive start to the season that included owning a .911 OPS in early May and hitting a 122.9 mph homer against the Brewers on May 25. That homer was the hardest-hit ball since Statcast started tracking that data in 2015.

Cruz is now hitting .208 with a .321 on-base percentage, a .404 slugging percentage, 13 homers, 31 RBIs and 26 steals in 71 games.

“He’s struggling at the plate right now,” Kelly said. “It’s difficult when you’re going through that and trying to figure it out. He’s working hard to do that. That’s one thing we’ve got to be mindful of, is not letting that offense carry over to defense and base running, and the energy and effort that we’re giving on any other aspects of the game as well.”

Cruz said his hitting slump “had nothing to do with what happened today” and isn’t impacting his focus on the basepaths or in the field. But he also said he appreciated Kelly’s instructions to him and noted how he can learn from veteran teammates Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham.

“They’re a really good example,” Cruz said. “They always run hard. They always go out there to do their 100%. That’s a teaching point for me. I accepted the way DK came to me and explained it and presented it to me.”

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