GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- While the goal of a lawsuit filed last week by a Montana retailer is solely to be reimbursed for damage sustained by a fire at a gas station, the lawsuit could set a precedent for petroleum retailers or at least be a sign of a slow-growing trend.
On March 21, Town Pump of Great Falls Inc. filed a lawsuit seeking more than $23,000 in damages from a customer who allegedly ignited a fire at a gas pump by static electricity. Town Pump wanted to deal with her insurance company, butshe would not relay the claim to her insurance company, [image-nocss] Bill Gregoire, Town Pump's attorney on the lawsuit, told CSP Daily News. So Town Pump was left with no alternative but to file a lawsuit so that she would have to turn her claim in to her insurance company.
According to court documents, defendant Misty Rae Hopkins pulled into a Town Pump station in Great Falls, Mont., the afternoon of Feb. 5, 2005, and began to pump gas into her SUV, leaving her SUV ignition key in the accessories position to allow the radio to play. While the gasoline was pumping, Hopkins got back into the car. Once the pump stopped, she again got out of the car and failed to heed [warnings posted on the pump] concerning discharging herself of static electricity prior to approaching the fuel dispensing nozzle, the court documents state. A resulting static-electricity discharge ignited the gasoline, causing a fire in and around Hopkins car and damaging the pump. Hopkins was not injured.
Gregoire said Town Pump's goal is not to punish Hopkins, but only to gain appropriate reimbursement through her insurance company. We made an offer to her and her insurance company saying we'd be willing to settle this for X number of dollars. Wellthey haven't replied at all, he said. If she didn't have insurance, Town Pump would just walk away. [But we feel], you were the person that was in the car; you were the person that was standing by the nozzle; you were the person that maybe could have prevented all of this. And what did we do? We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We want to be reimbursed for the repairs.
Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI), which closely monitors such things as static-electricity discharge at the pump, said Town Pump's lawsuit is a gutsy move that opens up some pretty basic legal questions. There will probably be some interesting litigation that comes out of [lawsuits like] these, he told CSP Daily News. We had the signs out. We told people not to do that. They should know better. And the question for the court is: What's the duty after that of the station and the station attendant vs. the motorist?
Renkes said he has only heard of one other lawsuit like this from a couple of years ago, but he did not know the outcome. Both he and Gregoire said they expect the Montana case to be settled out of court. In the meantime, Hopkins has filed a counter lawsuit against Town Pump claiming negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
Renkes said far fewer than 100 incidents of static electricity igniting fires at gasoline pumps occur each year. It's a one-in-a-million chance it's going to happen, he said. Out of 11 billion fuelings a year, we don't have many of these.
He added that if the case does end up in court, it's not likely a single legal precedent will be set, likening the case to others that have involved fires started by customers who smoke while fueling their cars or those who fill gasoline cans without placing them on the ground. It depends on your state court, he said. It depends on how diligent that attendant was.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.