Sig Sauer is being sued in Louisiana federal court for negligence after an officer claims the gunmaker’s semi-automatic pistol was “unreasonably dangerous” and discharged on its own.
Plaintiff Stephanie Lynn Licciardi and her partner, Kerri Lopez, filed their lawsuit January 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Both women are residents of St. Tammany Parish. Sig Sauer Inc. is headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire.
According to the 12-page complaint, Sig Sauer’s Model P320 semi-automatic pistol was marketed and sold for use by military and law enforcement personnel.
Licciardi, a senior public safety officer employed by LCMC Health’s police department, claims she purchased a P320 personally, as required by her employer for duty use.
On the morning of Oct. 27, 2025, she was on duty at an LCMC hospital facility in New Orleans. She claims she was exiting the behavioral unit and standing upright in a “normal, balanced position” when she placed the pistol into a holster.
As the firearm was holstered, she claims it discharged a single round “without any trigger pull or intentional activation.”
“Plaintiff’s finger was not on the trigger, nor did Plaintiff manipulate the trigger in any manner at the time of discharge,” Licciardi’s complaint states.
As a result, she suffered a gunshot wound to her right thigh, with the bullet exiting near her knee. Licciardi notes the bullet was a hollow-point round, which fragmented upon impact.
Currently, bullet fragments remain lodged in her leg and are pressing on nerves, causing chronic pain, neurological symptoms, and difficulty ambulating, she claims.
She also claims she now walks with a limp and has difficulty sleeping due to nerve pain.
“Plaintiff routinely cleaned and maintained the firearm and made no modifications to the firearm or the holster,” the complaint states. “The firearm and holster were used exactly as intended and in a foreseeable manner.”
Licciardi contends she never received any notice indicating the P320 model had been subject to recalls.
Now, as a result of her injuries, she claims she is unable to return to work and has suffered “substantial wage loss, financial hardship, and emotional distress.”
The filing argues Sig Sauer, also referred to as SAI, is liable under the Louisiana Products Liability Act, or LPLA, as the P320 was “unreasonably dangerous” in its design.
“The Sig Sauer P320 was designed, assembled, manufactured, sold, supplied, distributed, and placed into the stream of commerce in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition, and the defective condition existed at the time the product left the control of SAI and remained unchanged through the time of Plaintiff’s injury,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit argues the gunmaker failed to provide a recall notice or any corrective instruction.
Licciardi contends the company knew or should have known through testing, internal reports, and law enforcement incidents that the P320 posed a risk of “uncommanded discharge without trigger activation.”
“SAI’s negligent recall execution and deficient safety campaign increased the risk of harm and directly contributed to Plaintiff’s injuries,” the filing states.
The lawsuit also asserts that Lopez has suffered loss of consortium as a result of Licciardi’s injuries. Loss of consortium, legally, is a claim made by a spouse for the loss of non-economic benefits due to someone’s negligence.
“These losses include, but are not limited to, the loss of love, affection, companionship, comfort, assistance, intimate relations, and shared household services that Ms. Licciardi was able to provide prior to the incident at issue,” the filing states.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, and all court-related costs and expenses.
New Orleans firm Koeppel LLC is representing them in the action.
