Manufacturers And Retailers May Be Liable In A Product Liability Case
Anyone who is injured by a dangerous or defective product may be entitled to file a product liability lawsuit. In many product liability lawsuits, there is more than one defendant. Defendants can include both the company that manufactured the defective product and the retailer that sold it. In this article, we will discuss product liability lawsuits and the duty of care that both manufacturers and retailers have to the public.
Manufacturers are responsible for the safety of a product
Any company that manufactures a product has a duty of care to ensure the safety of that product. Liability can extend to any party that interacted with the product. That means that if one company designed the product, another company manufactured the product, and a third company sold the product can all be held liable for an injury that was caused to a customer.
As an example, let’s say that a company designs a cellphone that can overheat and cause burn injuries. They outsource the manufacture of the product to a second company that assembles it. The product is then sold at Walmart. After owning the product for a week, the battery in the cellphone explodes causing burn injuries to the victim. The victim can file a lawsuit against all of the parties who interacted with the product.
In some cases, however, one party is more liable than another. If, for example, the company that designed the cellphone stipulated that the battery must be a certain distance away from some of its component parts and the manufacturer did not heed that warning, the liability would fall on the manufacturer primarily for manufacturing a defective and dangerous product.
Manufacturers are not allowed to manufacture a product that they believe has a potentially dangerous design flaw. If they do, they can also be held liable, but the company that designed the product would be primarily liable for any injuries caused to a plaintiff.
Retailers can be held liable for dangerous or defective products
A retailer may be held liable for placing a dangerous or defective product into the stream of commerce. Retailers have a duty of care to ensure that the products they sell are safe for the public. Large retail stores like Walmart often require manufacturers to prove that their products are safe for public consumption. Retailers are responsible for ensuring that manufacturers and designers have a quality control process in place. They also provide feedback to manufacturers concerning as per their requirements for placing a product on their shelves.
If a retailer learns that a product has a critical design flaw which renders it dangerous, they then have a duty of care to remove the product from their shelves and avoid further injury to customers.
Talk to a Florida Product Liability Attorney Today
Halpern, Santos & Pinkert represent the interests of those who have been injured by dangerous or defective products. Call our Florida personal injury lawyers today to schedule a free consultation and we can begin filing suit on your behalf right away.
