Iowa City Sues Company over Grinch-like Holiday Decorations

Iowa City, Iowa has filed a lawsuit after some holiday decorations left revelers feeling a bit “grinchy.”

The city claims a Philadelphia-based decorations company sold it faulty Silhouette Snowflake decorations for about $15,700 last November.

The company, Design Decorators, assured the city the decorations were safe for use outdoors, but the decorations regularly shorted out, according to the lawsuit, filed Friday in Johnson County District Court.

Court records show that on one single occasion, 76 of the 84 decorations shorted out and one electrified the entire pole on which it was hung.

The lawsuit states that the city was told the decorations required no maintenance, except for changing the light bulbs once a year, but 121 bulbs burned out in just the two months the decorations were used.

The city claimed it contacted the company but received no reply.

A telephone message left for the company by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.