We are consumers every day. We use store-bought or salon-bought shampoo and conditioner, store-bought soap, and razors every day. Many women blow their hair dry with a blow dryer while some men shave with an electric shaver before heading to work. Every morning, we often use our coffee maker, tea kettle, and microwave to make our breakfasts. And our use of products doesn’t stop there.
All day long, we’re using things like cellphones, office chairs, infant car seats, strollers, lawnmowers, saws, crockpots, glue guns, small appliances, electric blankets, etc. until we end off for the day and go to bed. But what if one of these everyday products injures us? Not because we used it wrong but because the product was somehow inherently defective?
Product Liability Law
Nearly every state has enacted what’s called “strict liability law,” which allows people to file lawsuits against manufacturers that sell defective products that result in injuries to the person who bought it or to anyone who used the product. If you become injured by a defective product, it’s not necessary for you to prove the manufacturer was negligent. Instead, you only have to prove the product they sold was defective.
Consumers can bring strict liability actions against those who designed, manufactured, sold, or furnished dangerous and defective products. Let’s say you bought a brand-new crock pot. As it was cooking, it caught on fire and ended up burning you and burning your whole house down. You could recover damages if you were to prove the manufacturer of the crockpot made a defective product that was responsible for your injuries and other losses from the fire.
“Most courts today hold companies responsible for a defective product strictly liable to consumers and users for injuries caused by the defect. The product may have had a design flaw or a manufacturing defect. Another possibility may be that the producer or assembler failed to provide adequate warning of a risk or hazard or failed to provide adequate directions for a product's use,” according to the American Bar Association.
If you were injured by a defective product, contact the Law Office of James R. Snell, Jr., LLC!