Samsung Ordered to Pay $10.86 Million in Battery Explosion Case

The Georgia court ordered Samsung Electronics America (SEA) to pay $10.86 million in damages related to an e-cigarette battery explosion case. Samsung failed to respond to the lawsuit in time, which led to a default judgment. This means the court assumes that the plaintiff’s claim is true and accurate.

Court rules against Samsung in e-cigarette battery explosion case

In 2019, Jordan Brewer, living in Georgia, USA, suffered burns to his legs after the explosion of a battery inside an e-cigarette. The battery in question was a Samsung SDI 18650 standard cylindrical battery, commonly used in electronic devices. He filed a lawsuit in 2020, but instead of Samsung SDI, he filed it against Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung has multiple subsidiaries that operate separately. One of them is Samsung SDI, which makes batteries and electronic materials. While the case is related to the battery, the plaintiff filed the lawsuit mistakenly against a US-based unit, SEA, which sells TVs, home appliances, and smartphones. As a result, SEA became the defendant, even though it had no connection to the case.

At the time, SEA’s legal team was working from home due to COVID-19. They missed the court documents and failed to respond within the 30-day period required under Georgia law. As a result, the defendant SEA automatically entered into default. In October 2020, the court ordered SEA to pay $10.86 million to the plaintiff for permanent scars and psychological damage.

In 2021, SEA appealed the decision, arguing that they do not manufacture batteries and asked the court to revoke the default. A new judge agreed and canceled the $10.86 million order in January 2022. However, Brewer was not happy with this ruling and filed another appeal. On June 23, 2025, the court restored the previous default status of SEA. That means SEA must pay $10.86 million in damages.

However, Samsung is planning to appeal the decision again. “In fact, SEA is not responsible for the e-cigarette explosion incident, so we will appeal and correct the results,” a Samsung Electronics official said. We can expect to hear more about the case in the coming months.