Supreme Court First Recognizes Civil Liability of Humidifier Sanitizer Makers

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s ruling that ordered humidifier disinfectant manufacturers to pay compensation to a victim of the chemical. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s ruling that ordered humidifier disinfectant manufacturers to pay compensation to a victim of the chemical.

The civil litigation began in February 2015, when the victim, surnamed Kim, who used a humidifier sanitizer product made and sold by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea from November 2007 to April 2011 and was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease in May 2013, filed a damages suit against Oxy and its material supplier, Hanvit Chemical.

A district court dismissed Kim’s case, but an appellate court ordered Oxy and Hanvit in September 2019 to pay compensation of 5 million won (US$3,820) to the plaintiff, saying Kim suffered physical damage due to design and labeling defects in their products.

In its first verdict on the civil liability of humidifier disinfectant manufacturers and sellers, the Supreme Court confirmed the partial win by the plaintiff, saying there was no mistaken understanding of the law by the appellate court regarding the presumed causality in product liability.

The humidifier disinfectant scandal is one of the country’s worst consumer goods disasters.

In 2011, consumers started to report deaths and illnesses allegedly tied to humidifier disinfectants, widely used in households in dry winters. A government-led investigation confirmed the link between the two the following year.

In criminal cases, court decisions have varied depending on the ingredients used in humidifier sanitizers.

In January 2018, the Supreme Court finalized a six-year prison sentence for Shin Hyun-woo, former chief of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea, who was convicted of homicide through professional negligence and falsely advertising the company’s disinfectant as safe.

By contrast, a district court acquitted the former heads of SK Chemical Co. and consumer goods company Aekyung Industrial Co. in the similar humidifier sterilizer case in January 2021.

(Yonhap)