STERLING – A jury has decided in favor of Wahl Clipper Corp. in a lawsuit in which a family claimed a Wahl product caused their son’s death.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles issued its verdict Aug. 31.

In the lawsuit, the parents of 16-year-old Ishan Bose-Pyne claimed their son was using a Wahl trimmer at their Los Angeles home when it ignited in flames. He suffered third-degree burns to his chest, back, arms, neck, nose and mouth, the suit said. He died 11 days later.

Sterling-based Wahl Clipper argued that the family could find no basis that the teen was using the company’s product at the time of the incident. It also couldn’t prove the defect in the product caused the fire, the company said.

On that basis, Wahl Clipper asked a federal judge in Los Angeles for a summary judgment in its favor – essentially, to dismiss the suit. The judge didn’t grant that request, but did bar the family from seeking punitive damages.

Bill Dempsey, Wahl’s human resources director, said last month that the company maintained the fire resulted from some other source. He said it was an “improbability” the trimmer caused it.

“It would not create the spark and heat to do anything close to this,” Dempsey said.

The fire's ignition source was on the opposite side of the sink from where the trimmer was, he said.
"The trimmer wasn't even plugged in," he said.

In an interview last month, the family’s law firm couldn’t produce any other instances in which the product in question caused a fire.

Bose-Pyne, an honors student, was the son of Shonali Bose, an Indian film director and producer, and Bedabrata Pain, a former scientist for NSA and one of the inventors of active pixel sensor technology.

Wahl Clipper, founded in 1919, is Whiteside County’s largest private employer.

In a news release Thursday, Wahl Clipper said it “prides itself on its adherence to safety standards governing its products to ensure that its customers receive a safe and reliable product.”