Defective Products:  Who is ultimately held accountable?

When someone is injured because another person races through a red light or fails to cover a hole in a floor, a basic negligence test is used to determine if that person is "at fault" under the law.  And it's a test with which most people easily identify-whether that person's conduct fell below an acceptable standard of care for a reasonable person in like circumstances.  However, when a product (equipment, bicycle, tool, toy, etc.) is involved in an accident that injures someone, a different "fault" test is used.  In Louisiana,   the Louisiana Products Liability Act governs claims against manufacturers for injuries caused by defective products.

Under the Act, a "manufacturer" is the actual maker of the product or one who holds out the product as his or her own in the course of selling the product.  For example, Sears would be considered the "manufacturer" of Craftsmen tools because, although Sears doesn't make the tools, it holds out Craftsmen tools as its own when selling the tools.  Also, one who assembles a product for sale will be considered a manufacturer under the Act. 

Types of defects

The Products Liability Act requires you to prove that there was a defect in the product that was "unreasonably dangerous" that existed when it left the manufacturer's control.  A product can be unreasonably dangerous in four different ways: (1) it can be defective in construction or composition; (2) it can have a defective design; (3) it can have an inadequate warning about a particular hazard; and (4) it can fail to conform to an express warranty made by the manufacturer.

A product is defective in construction or composition if its construction or make-up deviated in a material way from the manufacturer's specifications or performance standards for that product.  For example, if an outboard motor is missing the kill switch that the other motors made by the same manufacturer have, that would be considered a defect in its construction or composition.  These kinds of defects are much less common than the others because of technological advances in mass production.

To prove that a product had a defective design, you must prove that a feasible alternative design existed at the time the product left the manufacturer's control that would have prevented your injury.  For example, assume you are injured while push-mowing your lawn because a rock is thrown from underneath the mower to the rear of the mower where you are standing because there is no guard on the rear of the mower near the blade.  The manufacturer of that mower will be liable if you can prove that other push-mowers manufactured at the same time as yours have a guard to prevent this exact injury.  It's important to understand that it won't be enough to prove that some new design now exists that would have prevented your injury or that concepts, ideas or technology existed at the time the product left the manufacturer that could have been used to create an alternative design.  Whatever alternative design you offer as the one that could have prevented your injury must have actually existed at the time the product left the manufacturer.

A product has an inadequate warning if it possessed a characteristic that may cause damage and the manufacturer failed to warn about it.  The manufacturer must provide a warning of any danger inherent in the normal use of its product but not of open and obvious dangers.  However, just slapping a sticker on a piece of equipment that has the word "WARNING" in large letters is not enough.  The law requires the warning to be clear and thorough enough to lead an ordinary reasonable user of the product to contemplate the danger in using the product and either to decline to use the product or to use it in such a manner as to avoid injury.

Finally, breaching an express warranty simply means that a product doesn't meet the warranty it makes about a certain condition and that failure causes damages.  For example, if a wagon's warranty states it will safely carry 400 pounds but breaks with 300 pounds in it and causes injury, it will be defective under the law.

Conclusion

If you are injured by a tool, piece of equipment or product of any kind, you should save the product to be examined by a qualified expert to determine if it had a defect that caused your injury in any way.