Can You Sue a Manufacturer for a Defective Product?

Product liability law lets people injured by unsafe products recover from the businesses that made and sold them, even without proving exactly who was careless.

Three types of defects

1. Manufacturing defect: a single item or batch differs from its design, such as a contaminated food item or a cracked part.
2. Design defect: the whole product line is unreasonably dangerous as designed, and a safer, practical design was available.
3. Warning (marketing) defect: the product lacked adequate instructions or warnings about non-obvious risks.

Legal theories

• Strict liability: in most states, a commercial seller is liable for injuries caused by a defective product even if it was careful (Cornell LII). You must still prove the defect and that it caused the injury.
• Negligence: the manufacturer failed to use reasonable care in design, testing or inspection.
• Breach of warranty: the product did not meet an express promise or the implied warranty that it is fit for ordinary use.

Who can be sued

Liability can extend to the manufacturer, the maker of a defective component, the distributor and the retailer (Cornell LII). Suing several parties matters when the manufacturer is overseas or out of business.

Defenses to expect

• The product was misused in a way that was not foreseeable.
• The product was modified after sale.
• The risk was obvious or properly warned about.
• Your own fault, under comparative fault rules.

What to do after an injury

1. Keep the product and all parts, packaging, manuals and receipts. Do not repair it or send it back to the manufacturer.
2. Photograph the product, the scene and your injuries.
3. Get medical care and keep records.
4. Check for recalls at the CPSC for consumer products or NHTSA for vehicles and car seats. A recall supports, but is not required for, a claim.
5. Report the incident to the relevant agency.

Deadlines

Product cases are subject to your state's statute of limitations, and many states also have a statute of repose that bars claims a set number of years after the product was first sold, regardless of when the injury happened.

Individual suit or class action?

Serious injuries are usually handled as individual lawsuits, sometimes grouped with similar cases in mass tort proceedings. Economic-loss-only claims are more often class actions; see how class actions work. For vehicle defects that are not injuries, see lemon laws.

A personal injury lawyer experienced in product cases can arrange expert inspection of the product.

Sources

1. Cornell Law School LII: Products liability
2. Cornell Law School LII: Strict liability
3. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Recalls
4. NHTSA: Check for recalls