SIG Sauer's bid to get $2.3M verdict tossed misfires
Feb. 14—A federal judge in Atlanta has denied SIG Sauer's request for a new trial after a jury awarded $2.35 million to a Georgia man last June who was seriously wounded while removing his holstered pistol from his belt.
Robert Lang claimed SIG Sauer — whose U.S. headquarters is in Newington — defectively designed its P320 model and failed to warn customers about the potential for it to discharge unintentionally. A federal jury in Atlanta agreed.
Lang, 37, claimed the pistol fired while inside the holster, where he couldn't reach the trigger, as he attempted to unclip the holster from his belt. He said a bullet tore through his upper right thigh, exiting just above his knee.
The jury found that Lang was not negligent in handling his SIG Sauer pistol, which he bought in March 2018 for just over $700.
The incident happened in December 2018 at Lang's home.
According to the latest court order, the gunmaker failed to meet the burden for a new trial and failed to justify its requested reduction in the jury's damages award.
One of Lang's attorneys, Robert Zimmerman,
said, "The jury heard and understood the evidence. The court in great detail identified the significant record that the jury based its decision on.
"The only ones not listening, unfortunately, are those at SIG Sauer who refuse to change the P320's design before more law enforcement officers and law-abiding gun owners are injured or killed."
In a statement, SIG Sauer said it "strongly disagrees" with the verdict and will be appealing the decision "on multiple grounds."
"In this case, the plaintiff, Mr. Lang, initially admitted to the police that he accidentally discharged his gun while pulling it out of the holster, then later changed his story, stating that the firearm discharged without a trigger pull," the statement reads.
"However, the Plaintiff's story notably changed again, after hiring trial experts who agreed that the SIG Sauer P320 could not discharge without the trigger being pulled. Plaintiff and both his experts testified, however, that they do not know what pulled the trigger or how the trigger was pulled, and they did not attempt to conduct any testing to confirm how the trigger could have been pulled, other than by Mr. Lang's own finger."
"SIG Sauer does not believe that Plaintiff has met his burden in this case to prove that the P320 model pistol was designed defectively or negligently, and there are no facts on the record that Mr. Lang's discharge was the result of anything other than his own negligent handling which caused him to pull the trigger on the P320 pistol."
The statement goes on to say the design of the SIG Sauer P320 model pistol is "truly innovative and safe," with multiple patents relating to safety mechanisms.
In the court order, Judge Eleanor Ross writes attorneys for SIG Sauer argued in favor of reducing Lang's pain and suffering award from $2.3 million to $500,000, bringing the total jury award to $550,963.43.
"The court finds that the jury's verdict is not 'so exorbitant and flagrantly outrageous as to shock the moral sense' or 'create a clear implication of bias, prejudice, or gross mistake by the jurors,'" the order states. "The jury made its award 'in its enlightened conscience' and based upon proper evidence."
The P320, which was introduced in 2014, is one of the most popular guns in the U.S., with more than 2.5 million sold, according to the company.
Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky PC represents more than 100 P320 victims.
In November, a jury in Philadelphia awarded $11 million in damages to U.S. Army veteran George Abrahams, who claims his SIG Sauer P320 pistol fired in its holster without his hands touching the gun.
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