Chapter 6 Flashcards
Product Liability-Negligence.
the liability of manufacturers, sellers, and others for the injuries caused by defective products.
*negligence requires the defendant to be at fault for casing the plaintiff’s injuries. to be successful, the plaintiff must prove the defendant breached a duty of care to the plaintiff and thereby caused the plaintiff’s injuries (the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was at fault for causing his or her injuries).
Product Liability-Misrepresentation
a tort in which a seller or lessor fraudulently misrepresents the quality of a product and a buyer is injured thereby.
Intentional misrepresentation occurs when a seller or lessor either
1) affirmatively misrepresents the quality of a product or
2) conceals a defect in it.
Product Liability: Strict liability
a tort doctrine that makes manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and others in the chain of distribution of a defective product liable for the damages caused by the defect, irrespective of fault.
- liability without fault. a seller can be found strictly liable even though he or she has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his or her product.
- strict liability applies only to products, not services and applies to sellers and lessors of products who are engaged in the business of selling and leasing products.
Punitive Damages
monetary damages that are awarded to punish a defendant who either intentionally or recklessly injured the plaintiff.
Product Defects
*to recover for strict liability, the injured party must show that the product caused the injury was somehow defective.
A product can be found defective in many ways and the most common types of defects are:
1) defect in manufacture
2) defect in design
3) failure to warn
4) defect in packaging
5) failure to provide adequate instructions.
Defect in Manufacture
a defect that occurs when a manufacturer fails to
1) properly assemble a product,
2) properly test a product, or
3) adequately check the quality of the product.
Defect in Design
occurs when a product is designed incorrectly. *not just one item has a defect but all of the products are defectively designed and can cause injury.
- in evaluating the adequacy of a product’s design, a court may apply a risk-utility analysis (this requires the court to consider the gravity of the danger posed by the design, the likelihood that injury will occur, the availability and cost of producing a safer alternative design, the social utility of the product, and other factors).
- some courts apply a consumer expectation test, which requires a showing that the product is more dangerous than the ordinary consumer would expect.
Crashworthiness Doctrine
a doctrine that says automobile manufacturers are under a duty to design automobiles so they take into account the possibility of harm from a person’s body striking something inside the automobile in the case of a car accident.
Failure to warn
a defect that occurs when a manufacturer does not place a warning on the package of products that could cause injury if the danger is unknown.
Manufacturers and sellers:
1) owe a duty to warn consumers and users about the dangers of using these producs.
2) a proper and conspicuous warning placed on the product insulates the manufacturer and others in the chain of distribution from strict liability.
Defect in packaging
a defect that occurs when a product has been placed in packaging that is insufficiently tamperproof.
Manufacturers:
1) owe a duty to design and provide safe packages for their products
2) by providing packages and containers that are tamperproof or
3) that clearly indicate whether they have been tampered with
Defenses to Product Liability
1) generally known danger: a defense which acknowledges that certain products are inherently dangerous and are known to the general population to be so.
2) government contractor defense: a defense which provides that contractors that manufacture products to government specifications are not usually liable if such a product causes injury.
3) abnormal misuse: a defense that relieves seller of product liability if the user abnormally misused a product.
4) supervening event: an alternation or a modification of a product by a party in the chain of distribution that absolves all prior sellers from strict liability.
5) assumption of the risk: defendant must prove that
1) the plaintiff knew and appreciate the risk and
2) the plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risk.
Contributory Negligence
a defense that says a person who is injured by a defective product but has been negligent and has contributed to his or her own injuries cannot recover from the defendant.
Comparative negligence
a doctrine that applies to strict liability actions that says a plaintiff who is contributorily negligent for his or her injuries is responsible for a proportional share of the damages.
