Attorney Shana Nogues Secures 7-Figure Award for Client Injured by Defective Mattress

In a significant victory, Attorney Shana Nogues has obtained a seven-figure binding arbitration award for a client who suffered long-term injuries due to a defective mattress manufactured by a major mattress company and sold by a major furniture retailer. The award comes after a hard-fought legal battle centering around the existence of a defect and causation of our client’s permanent, life-altering injury.

Our client, a left-side sleeper, purchased the new mattress in 2017. Within months, she began experiencing severe left-sided nerve pain under her shoulder blade. Around the same time, she noticed significant sinking in her new mattress, but did not immediately associate the pain to the mattress. She complained to the retailer and began seeking medical treatment for the new pain. As time went on the pain escalated to debilitating levels.

Approximately nine months after purchasing the mattress, the retailer measured it and found that it had a depression of two and a quarter inches. The retailer removed it and allowed our client to select a replacement.

The pain did not resolve, and medical evaluations eventually revealed that our client suffered from a nerve injury resulting in a winged scapula. Her doctors linked the diagnosis directly to the mattress’s sinking and the prolonged stretching injury she experienced while sleeping on the depression. The conditions are permanent and no cure is available, so our client will suffer from pain and weakness for the rest of her life.

Through litigation, Attorney Shana Nogues proved that the mattress was defective as the manufacturer’s tolerance for sinking was only one and a half inches over a ten-year period. Despite the manufacturer and seller arguing that sinking in excess of the tolerance did not deem that mattress defective, the arbitrator found the mattress was defective. The defense also argued that our client’s injuries were the result of a preexisting condition and that our client contributed to her own injury by sleeping on the mattress after she noticed it sinking. Through witness testimony and cross examination, Attorney Nogues neutralized these defenses ultimately resulting in the seven-figure award.

This award emphasizes the importance of holding product manufacturers and sellers responsible for injuries caused by their defective products and the commitment of legal advocates like Attorney Nogues to hold them to the safety standards.