PRODUCTS LIABILITY

If you are hurt by a poorly designed or manufactured product, you may have a viable strict products liability claim. Products claims are “strict liability” claims. That means you do not have to prove negligence in the design or manufacture of the product. You need only prove that the product was unreasonable dangerous due to a design or manufacturing defect and that it caused injury as a result. 

Typical products liability cases involve harm caused by defective automobiles (such as seatbelt defect cases or crashworthiness claims), by defective machinery (anything from injury causes by a hazardous forklift or scissor lift, to injury caused by a poorly designed sander or saw), to firearms injuries, etc.

Like wrongful death, strict liability for product liability is a relatively new claim. The seminal case in Oklahoma is Kirkland v. GMC, 1974 OK 52, 521 P.2d 1353. Per Kirkland, the injured party must prove the following:

• First, the plaintiff must prove that the product was the cause of the injury

• Second, the plaintiff must prove that the defect existed in the product, if the action is against the manufacturer, at the time the product left the manufacturer’s possession and control. If the action is against the retailer or supplier of the article, then the Plaintiff must prove that the article was defective at the time of sale for public use or consumption or at the time it left the retailer’s possession and control.
• Third, the plaintiff must prove that the article sold must be dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics

Once the above is proven, the injured person is entitled to all the ordinary damages associated with personal injury:

• Past and future pain and suffering
• Past and future loss of income
• Past and future medical costs
• Physical disability or disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Scar revision surgery
• Lost household or other “services”
• Wrongful death damages (see wrongful death section on Homepage)
• Punitive damages

Products liability is often a “third-party” companion claim to a workers’ compensation claim since products liability claims are not subject to the “exclusive remedy” of the workers’ compensation system.

Paul has worked on a number of products liability claims over the years including both with his former firm and as a consultant and freelance writer for other Oklahoma law firms. Call today for a free consultation regarding your products liability claim.