June 1, 2010

Burn Victim's Suit Goes Forward Against Bacardi Over Bartender's Pyrotechnics

by Noeleen G. Walder
New York Law Journal

A woman who claims she was severely burned when a bottle of Bacardi 151 rum caught fire during a restaurant bartender's pyrotechnic display has won her attempt to proceed with a personal injury and products liability action against Bacardi and the restaurant.

Lauren Sclafani alleged that Bacardi knew or should have foreseen that its high-proof rum was being widely used for a variety of dangerous, flammable displays. She accused the company of employing a poorly designed flame arrester on top of its bottle that could be easily removed by bartenders.

In denying Bacardi's motion to dismiss, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman held that whether consumers would find acceptable a lower-proof rum that was less incendiary and whether the Bacardi 151 bottle had been defectively designed were factual issues.

"Considering the evidence submitted by plaintiff, the court cannot say at this juncture that the use of Bacardi 151 for flaming drinks or desserts or pyrotechnic displays is unforeseeable or abnormal," the judge wrote in Sclafani v. Brother Jimmy's BBQ Inc., 115551/08.

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