A jury in Nevada has awarded a $5.2 billion verdict against AffinityLifestyles.com Inc. and its Real Water brand in a negligence and product liability case. The company was found responsible for causing liver damage in customers before it was recalled from store shelves in 2021. The jury awarded about $230 million in compensatory damages and $5 billion in punitive damages to Hunter Brown and several other plaintiffs. The 12-day trial ended with the verdict last week, according to Clark County District Court records.
The company’s insurance company is expected to fight paying damages because the company has filed for bankruptcy. Affinitylifestyles.com was headed by Brent Jones, who served as a Republican Nevada state Assembly member from 2016 to 2018. Jones and attorneys for the company did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Juries have previously delivered separate verdicts against the company, awarding plaintiffs almost $3.1 billion in June, $130 million in February, and $228 million in October 2023. The juries were told that tests found Real Water contained hydrazine, a chemical used in rocket fuel that may have been introduced during treatment before bottling.
Defense attorneys have argued that the company was unintentionally negligent, not reckless, because it didn’t know hydrazine was in the water and didn’t know to test for it. However, attorney Will Kemp, representing plaintiffs, said that he represents additional plaintiffs in several more civil lawsuits still pending against the company.
Real Water was sold in distinctive boxy blue bottles as premium treated “alkalized” drinking water with healthy detoxifying properties. It was distributed to stores throughout the Southwest, including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and the Los Angeles area, and was also delivered to homes in large bottles before being pulled off shelves in March 2021.
Related topics：
