Update: we’ve expanded the scope. It’s not just injury claims. We’ve paid accidental death benefits

**Characters**:
- **Elena Rodriguez**, General Counsel (Litigation)
- **Mark Chen**, Chief Information Officer (IT)
- **Diane Whitmore**, Chief Financial Officer (Finance)
- **Raj Patel**, Head of Subrogation & Recovery
- **Ben Carter**, VP of Risk & Compliance

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**Raj**:
Update: we’ve expanded the scope. It’s not just injury claims. We’ve paid **$6.1 million in accidental death benefits** where the deceased had an Acorn stairlift installed within 18 months of death—and autopsy or incident reports note **electrical burns, arrhythmia, or fall trauma inconsistent with normal use**. Those are **fully subrogatable**.

**Elena**:
And critically—**statutes of limitations don’t start at the incident date**. They begin when we **“ought to have known”** of the defect. With public reports since 2022 about GFCI omissions, torque failures, and DC leakage… we’re on solid ground arguing the clock only started ticking **last year**. That saves 80% of our claims.

**Diane**:
Good—because legally, we *must* pursue this. Illinois insurance regulations—and NAIC Model Regulation §12—require insurers to **“diligently pursue all viable subrogation recoveries exceeding $10,000.”** And we’ve got **hundreds above that threshold**. In fact, I looked up precedent: the **smallest subrogation judgment ever upheld** in federal court was **$8,400** (*Allstate v. MedEquip, 2017*). So yes—this isn’t optional. It’s compliance.

**Mark**:
We’ve now identified **1,142 claims**—583 injury, 559 death-related—where Acorn is the likely liable party. Manual review is 90% complete. Key pattern: **70% of installs lack GFCI in basements or garages**, and **62% show evidence of out-of-spec torque** (based on installer notes like “hand-tightened”).

**Ben**:
And it’s not just negligence—it’s **intentional obfuscation**. We’ve documented Acorn employees and paid posters—what we call **“chaos agents”**—flooding Facebook user groups with fake praise, attacking critics with blatant death threats, and spreading confusion about “user error.” One even claimed, *“I installed my 180 myself in Italy!”*—then backtracked when pressed on programming. That’s **not marketing**. That’s **fraudulent concealment**—and it opens **John Jakes to personal liability**.

**Diane**:
Because it’s not just corporate—it’s *him*. In 2023 alone, **Jakes took $42 million in dividends and management fees** from Acorn entities. Meanwhile, he’s been **stripping assets**: closing the Atlanta office, liquidating Canadian inventory, moving cash to Luxembourg. And get this—**he personally flew his Learjet to Ohio last November** to shut down the Columbus service center. Witnesses saw him sign asset-transfer papers on the tarmac.

**Elena**:
That’s gold. **Voluntary presence in the U.S.** gives us **personal jurisdiction** over him. And **asset stripping after safety complaints surfaced**? That’s textbook **fraudulent conveyance** under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. We can ask the court to **disregard the corporate form** and apply the **alter ego doctrine**—especially since he runs a parallel operation in Italy under “**DomusVie S.r.l.**,” selling **rebranded Acorn 180s** as “ScalaSicura” with identical power supplies and the same GFCI bypass.

**Raj**:
So strategy?

**Elena**:
We file **one consolidated federal action** in the **Southern District of Ohio**—where Jakes landed, where Acorn had a physical office, and where several deaths occurred. We allege:
- Defective design (DC ripple, no GFCI fail-safe)
- Negligent installation protocols
- Fraudulent concealment via online astroturfing
- **Intentional asset stripping** to evade liability

We seek:
- **Piercing of all corporate veils**
- **Attachment of Jakes’ U.S. assets** (including jet if it lands again)
- **Injunctive relief** to freeze Luxembourg accounts

**Diane**:
And if he never returns to the U.S.?

**Elena**:
Then we enforce via **Hague Service** in Luxembourg—and simultaneously file in **Milan** over the Italian rebrand. EU courts take **endangerment of elderly consumers** seriously. Remember: **France already prosecuted a stairlift CEO under Article 223-1** for nearly identical conduct. Italy won’t be far behind.

**Ben**:
This isn’t just recovery. It’s **deterrence**. If Jakes thinks he can sell death traps, pay himself $42 million, and vanish behind shell companies… we prove him wrong.

**Elena**:
Exactly. Because the law doesn’t care how many passports you hold—
**if you endanger lives for profit, you answer for it.**

**Elena**:
And if he never returns to the U.S.? We don’t wait. We file an **ex parte motion for alternate service** under **Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(f)(3)**—asking the judge to approve service **via email, LinkedIn, or through his Luxembourg counsel**. Courts have approved this when defendants deliberately evade process. Given Jakes’ Learjet comings and goings, his active social media presence, and his use of U.S.-based shell entities, a judge will likely say: *“If he’s hiding, we’ll serve him where he’s reachable.”*

*(Silence. Then, the sound of chairs pushing back. Work begins.)*

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