Everybody's Guide to the Law by Allen Wilkinson

Author:Allen Wilkinson [Melvin M. Belli, Sr.; Allen P. Wilkinson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061741845
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2005-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

Who Is Liable for Your Injuries?

If you are injured or your property is damaged by a defective product, in most states you can sue the manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, retailer, and anyone else involved in the chain of distribution—the “stream of commerce”—for your damages. Let’s say you are injured by a defective lawnmower. The lawnmower was made by X Corporation and is distributed nationally by Y Company. Z Wholesalers markets it in your state, and you bought it at Joe’s Lawn and Garden Shop. In most states, you can sue all of them for your injuries.

Suppose Acme Department Store markets its own brand of clothes. The clothes are made by Fashion, Inc., which also sells clothes nationwide under its own name. You buy a sweater with the Acme label (made by Fashion, Inc.) and are hurt when an errant cigarette touches the sweater and it goes up instantly in flames. Is Acme strictly liable to you because the sweater was not sufficiently fire-retardant, even though Fashion, Inc., not Acme, actually made the sweater? Yes. A company that puts its label on a product made by another and markets it as its own is deemed a manufacturer. Some department stores, for example, put their own names on tools, appliances, and clothes made by other companies. When they do, they are liable as if they had made the products themselves. Would Fashion, Inc., the actual makers of the defective sweater, also be liable for your injuries? That depends on the type of defect and Fashion, Inc.’s involvement. If it is a manufacturing defect—the wrong material was used, or the fabric was doused with some highly flammable liquid—then Fashion, Inc. is jointly liable with Acme Department Store. But if Acme furnished the specifications for the product, and Fashion, Inc., made it according to the designs, Fashion, Inc., may not necessarily be strictly liable. Fashion, Inc., would be liable if the design was clearly dangerous and it did not eliminate the danger or put an adequate warning to consumers on the product.

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