★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ PUMA SUED AGAIN ≡
“This is a product liability action seeking recovery for substantial personal injuries and damages suffered by Plaintiff after Plaintiff was seriously injured by products designed, engineered, tested, developed, manufactured, advertised, marketed, promoted, imported, sold and distributed by Defendants.”
Following up on an April complaint filed by U.S. sprint star Abby Steiner against Puma and its design collaborator Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd., two more suits using identical language were filed Tuesday by the same counsel, in Massachusetts Superior Court in Middlesex County, on behalf of Champ Allison and Damion Thomas Jr.
● Allison (USA) was a star at Florida, finishing second at the NCAA Championships, second at the USA Track & Field Nationals in a lifetime best 43.70 and then fourth at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 44.77. He won a gold medal on the men’s 4×400 m relay.
Since that stellar 2022 season, his yearly bests have receded, to 46.39 in 2023, 45.49 in 2024 and 46.15 in 2025. He has not raced in 2026.
● Thomas (JAM) was a high hurdler at LSU and won the 2021 NCAA Indoor 60 m title, after winning the World Athletics U-20 Championships gold for Jamaica in 2018. In that 2021 season, he ran a lifetime best of 13.11, was the runner-up at the Jamaican nationals and was on the Tokyo Olympic team, reaching the semifinals.
He ran just 13.30 in 2022, 13.40 in 2023 and 13.64 in 2024, the last year he raced.
Both complaints made identical allegations against the defendants:
● “Relying upon representations and warranties made by the PUMA DEFENDANTS and MERCEDES-BENZ GRAND PRIX LTD., including those set forth herein and others, Plaintiff decided to wear the PUMA SHOES for training and in competitions with the reasonable expectation that they were properly designed, developed, tested, manufactured, marketed, promoted, advertised, sold and distributed free from defects of any kind, and that they were safe for their intended, foreseeable use during training and competitions.
● “Despite this and in disregard of their obligations, the PUMA DEFENDANTS and MERCEDES-BENZ GRAND PRIX LTD. were aware that the PUMA SHOES had defects that made them unsafe, unreasonably dangerous, defective and capable of causing injury and harm to consumers during ordinary, anticipated and foreseeable uses.
● “As a direct and proximate cause of his use of the PUMA SHOES for training and in competitions, Plaintiff developed severe and permanent injuries resulting in impairment, surgery, rehabilitation and recovery.”
In Allison’s case, the succeeding paragraph read:
“As a direct and proximate cause of the severe and permanent injuries the PUMA SHOES caused Plaintiff, he is unable to run or compete at or even near the same level he was prior to sustaining the injuries.”
For Thomas:
“As a direct and proximate cause of the severe and permanent injuries the PUMA SHOES caused Plaintiff, he is unable to run competitively, including at the professional and Olympic level.”
The complaints allege negligent design, negligent manufacture, failure to warn users, general negligence, breach of warranty, and asks for a jury trial and damages to be proven at trial.
In the Steiner suit, Puma told Front Office Sports, “Puma is aware that a case has been filed. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on active litigation. However, we strongly deny any allegation that our performance products cause injuries” and pointed to other athletes who have succeeded with their footwear, such as world-record holders Mondo Duplantis (SWE: vault) and Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR: high jump).
The Steiner case was filed on 24 April and an answer from the defendants is due by 24 August. The Allison case (2681CV01528) has a reply due on 7 October and Thomas’ case (2681CV01525) has its answer due on the same date.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 681-event International Sports Calendar for 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
