Walmart Christmas Lights Lawsuit Alleges ‘Holiday Time’ LED Bulbs Overheated, Caused Fire

Defective LED Christmas lights were labeled a “fire hazard” in online customer reviews years before igniting a Georgia man’s lawn, lawsuit contends.

A newly filed lawsuit alleges that defective fuses in Walmart’s “Holiday Time” Christmas lights allowed electricity to keep flowing through the LED bulbs even after they shorted out, triggering a lawn fire that left the plaintiff with severe injuries.

The complaint (PDF) was originally brought by James Lane in Georgia State Court on October 13, naming Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores East LP as defendants. However, it was removed by the defendants to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on November 21, for reasons of diversity jurisdiction.

Walmart’s Holiday Time brand includes a wide selection of Christmas lights that are sold for indoor and outdoor decorating. The lineup features both incandescent and LED options, including mini string lights, icicle strands and decorative items such as lighted gift boxes.

However, Lane’s lawsuit claims Walmart knew or should have known about a defect that could cause the Christmas lights to overheat and ignite nearby objects, pointing to years of poor customer reviews that specifically warned the lights were a fire hazard. 

Customers had given the product an average rating of just 1.9 out of 5 stars, including two reviews from January 2020 and January 2021 that flagged the same fire risk long before Lane purchased the set allegedly involved in his injuries.

In the complaint, Lane claims he bought a 24-foot strand of multicolor Holiday Time Christmas lights at a Walmart store in Cumming, Georgia, in December 2022.

Although the lights were marketed as LED indoor–outdoor decorations that would “stay cool to the touch when lit,” the complaint alleges they were already defective when Lane purchased them. The filing claims the fuses failed to cut off power during a short, allowing electricity to continue flowing and causing the lights to overheat.

As a result, the complaint indicates that on December 1, 2023, the lights ignited grass on Lane’s property, causing him to suffer serious injuries while trying to put out the fire to protect his family.

Lane claims these risks were well known by the manufacturer. In addition to at least the two negative reviews on the company website, Lane points out that Health Canada issued a warning in November 2015, stating the lights could overheat and pose a fire risk. 

Although Walmart Canada later stopped selling the product, the suit claims U.S. Walmart locations continued to offer the lights despite these concerns.

“At or before the time the Lights were sold to Plaintiff, Walmart had knowledge of the design defect and could have altered the design to make it reasonably safe and eliminate the foreseeable risk of fire.”

— James Lane v. Walmart Inc. et al

Lane raises allegations of strict products liability, design defect, manufacturing defect, negligent design, negligent manufacturing, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligence and gross negligence. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

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