Products Liability

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Products Liability

• Tort Liability
• Negligence
• Strict Liability
• Restatement of Torts 402 A

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Tort Liability

• Negligence
• a. Duty
• b. Breach of Duty
• c. Proximate Cause
• d. Injury or damage

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Strict Liability

• Restatement of Torts Section 402A
• Imposes liability on Merchant sellers for both
• personal and property damage resulting for
• selling a product in a defective condition

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Strict Liability402A

• 1. One who sells any product in a defective
  condition unreasonably dangerous to the user of
  consumer or to his property is subject to
  liability for physical harm thereby caused to the
  ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if
  (a) the seller is engaged in the business of
  selling such a product, and (b) it is expected to
  and does reach the user or consumer without
  substantial change in the condition in which it
  is sold.

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Strict Liability402A

• 2. The rule state in Subsection (1) applies
  although (a) the seller has exercised all
  possible care in the preparation and sale of his
  product, and (b) the user or consumer has not
  bought the product from or entered into any
  contractual relation with the seller.

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Strict Liability 402ADefective Condition

• Manufacturing Defect
• Product fails to meet manufacturing
  specifications
• Design Defect
• Product manufactured correctly, but dangerous
  due to inadequate design
• Failure to Warn (a) adequate warning of Danger
  (b) appropriate directions (c) Proper packaging

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Unreasonably Dangerous

• Product is unreasonably dangerous if it
• contains a danger beyond that which the
• ordinary consumer, who purchases the
• product with common knowledge of its
• characteristics, would contemplate.

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Food Products

• Natural substance test
• If substance in food is natural to the product
  than no liability
• Reasonable expectation test
• Liability based on reasonable expectation of
  finding substance in the product.
• Broken tooth due to cherry pit in cherry pie

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Entrustment Doctrine

• If the owner of goods entrusts them to a
  merchant who deals in goods of the kind sold and
  the merchant sells them in the ordinary course of
  business to a bona fide purchaser for value the
  purchaser gets good title even though the
  merchant did not have good title.

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Transfer of Voidable Title

• A seller with voidable title transfers a good
  title to good faith purchasers for value.