Defective products Flashcards
A product which is in condition that is unreasonably dangerous to users
a) Breach of warranty
b) Misrepresentation
c) Negligence
d) Strict liability
Negligence
Based on a manufacturer’s breach of the reasonable standard of care and failing to make a product safe, cause of action
1. Designing products
2. Manufacturing and assembling products
3. Inspecting and testing products
4. Placing adequate warning labels
Manufacturers and suppliers
- A manufacturing flaw
- Failure to reasonably inspect
- Negligent design
- Failure to warn
- Failure to use care to make products with quality components
Strict liability
a) The defendant is in business of selling or manufacturing the product
b) The product is unreasonably dangerous when sold
c) The plaintiff injured by use or consumption of the product
d) The defective condition is the proximate cause of the injury
AND
e) There has been no substantial change made to the product
1. Consumers must be protected from unsafe products
2. Manufacturers should be liable to any user of the product
3. Manufacturers, sellers, and distributors can better bear the cost of injuries
Defect
The product must have been in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user/consumer or their property
Control
When it left the defendant’s proximity
Changes
Products must not undergo significant changes before it gets to the user
Business
The seller must be in the business of selling the product
Causation
Damage must result from the defect
Privity not required
The seller must be in the business of selling the product
Special liability
a) One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to their property is subject to liability for physical harm caused by the ultimate user or consumer or to their property if
1. The seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product AND
2. It is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold
b) The rule applies although…
1. The seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of the product AND
2. The user or consumer has not brought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller
a) The plaintiff must have been injured by a product made by the defendant as a commercial seller
b) The plaintiff must show that the product was defective when the product left the defendant’s control
Manufacturing defects
When a product is produced differently from other identical products, and is more dangerous due to the way it was made
Consumer expectation test
The product must be dangerous beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary adult consumer who purchases the product, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics which has been interpreted to mean that the product must be more dangerous than an ordinary consumer would expect when the product is used in its intended OR reasonably foreseeable manner which applies only where the product is in a condition not contemplated by the ultimate consumer which would be unreasonably dangerous to them. An ordinary adult consumer with ordinary knowledge common to the community as to the product’s characteristics
Design defects
Where all of the products are made the same, but a dangerous condition of each product has dangerous propensities because of unique design features or packaging which makes the entire product line defective because of poor design
Risk/Utility test (majority)
The plaintiff is generally required to show that the risk of the product outweighs the utility of the product, and one of the ways the plaintiff is generally required to do this is by demonstrating that a feasible alternative design exists
1. The utility and usefulness of the product as a whole and to the individual user
2. The nature of the product is likely to cause injury
3. The availability of a safer design, a substitute product
4. The potential for designing and manufacturing the product so that it is safer but remains functional and reasonably priced, eliminate the unsafe aspects
5. The ability of the plaintiff to have avoided injury by care in the use of the product
6. The degree of awareness of the potential danger of the product which reasonably can be attributed to the plaintiff, obvious unsafe condition AND
7. The manufacturer’s ability to spread any cost related to improving the safety of the design, carrying liability insurance
