Maine Woman Sues GM Claiming Heated Seat Burned Her

A woman who says she suffered a third-degree burn from a heated seat in Chevrolet Suburban has sued General Motors.

Emma Verrill says in her suit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland that GM failed to adequately test the rear seat heaters to prevent them from reaching “dangerously high temperatures that would burn human flesh.”

Verrill is paralyzed from the waist down and can’t feel hot and cold in her lower body.

She tells the Portland Press Herald her burn was so serious it required surgery and months in bed.

She’s seeking unspecified damages.

Verrill grew up in Yarmouth and now lives in Texas.

GM denied the seat heater was defective or dangerous, denied causing Verrill’s injury, and denied knowledge of a defect or failure to fix a defect.