Defective liability law is separate from other types of injury law and can, in fact, make it easier for an injured party to recover damages. Defective product injuries occur when a damaged or defective product winds up in the hands of a consumer when it should not have.
If you have been injured by a damaged or defective product, knowing who you can bring a claim against—such as if a retailer can be held liable for defective products—is perhaps the most important part of understanding your product liability claim.
Understanding Product Liability Law and Dangerous Products
Product liability law refers specifically to purchased items that have resulted in an injury which could not have been anticipated by the consumer (i.e., someone who is expected to use the product). A loss or injury must have occurred before you can sue with a complaint of a defective product; you cannot begin suing for defective products if you only suspect the product might cause damage. However, this is not exclusive to physical injuries. It might also include monetary damage, such as destruction of part of your home, or the loss of an expensive item as a result of the new product’s defect.
Types of Defective and Dangerous Product Complaints
There are three distinct types of dangerous product defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects. Design defects occur when a fundamental issue in the original design of the product makes it dangerous. Manufacturing defects are those that occur while the product is being built or manufactured for sale. Marketing defects refer to insufficient or inaccurate labels or security warnings about the product and its use.
Liability applies to those who can be held accountable—the retailers who sold the product, the manufacturers who made the product, and anyone in between—for distributing a product that fails to work as a consumer can reasonably anticipate. For example, if you purchase a radio, you expect it to play music—not to cause a fire. If something happened during the assemblage of the radio causing its wires to cross and be more likely to spark and ignite, this is a manufacturing defect, and the radio does not act within the scope of reasonable consumer expectations. However, if the danger was not one radio and a singular problem during assembly, but was rather caused by the original design of all of those radios, the defect would be one of design.
Some products are unsafe by their very nature, such as knives or fireworks. Making these items totally safe means they can no longer perform their respective functions. For this reason, these products must come with appropriate warning labels, and the consumer is expected to decide if the item is too unsafe for their use. For example, if all fireworks only required a ten-foot safety radius and had the appropriate labels to say so, but one particular firework required a fifteen-foot safety radius and no one changed the label (or applied any label at all) before offering it to consumers, this could result in a marketing defect liability claim. Similarly, if a pharmaceutical causes a horrific side effect for which the company provided no warning or labeling, the consumer with the side effect might be able to sue with a complaint of a defective product.
Can a Retailer Be Held Responsible for Defective Products?
The short answer is, “yes.” Retailers are one of several groups who can be held responsible for defective or dangerous products. Because of this, when making a claim, it is extremely important to include the entire chain of businesses or people who handled the product before it came to you. Although the retailer might not be directly responsible for the defective or dangerous aspects of the product, they should still be included in the claim for putting these items on their shelves and spending money marketing them to consumers.
Furthermore, if an item is known to be unacceptably dangerous and/or recalled and the store continues to sell it, this definitely places responsibility on the seller. In fact, you can hold them responsible even if you were not the person who bought or used the product: if the purchase and use of the item by anyone resulted in an injury or loss to you because the product was dangerous or defective, you may still be able to recover damages.
It is important to note, however, that there are some limits as to which sellers you can hold accountable. This applies particularly to suing for defective products that have been purchased already used. While an actual store or retailer who sells the product can be included when you are suing for defects, if you purchased the item secondhand from someone else in a private transaction (e.g., a yard sale), most states hold that these individuals are not precisely “retailers,” and therefore are not included in lawsuits. Stores specifically marketed as secondhand retailers may still be held accountable, but this can vary depending on the details of the case and which state you are in.
When you begin suing for defective products, one of the most important steps is to trace the chain of transaction. The manufacturer and retailer of the item are obvious starting points, but there are often several others involved between assembly and sales floor. Trace your purchase all the way through all of the intermediators, including wholesalers, suppliers, distributors, or other “middlemen” responsible for passing the defective or damaged product along.
How a Product Liability Attorney Can Benefit You
Product liability is different from other areas of injury law. Perhaps one of the biggest differences is that the person having a claim filed against them must prove the product is not dangerous, rather than the person who has filed the claim having to prove the item is dangerous. Additionally, there is no overriding federal product liability law. Although these laws are similar across most states in the US, there can be some differences—and depending on the specifics of your case, these differences could have a huge bearing on your lawsuit.
If you have been injured by a defective or damaged product, it’s time to stop searching for a “product defect attorney near me” and make a call to the Kansas Injury Recovery Institute. We know the Kansas product liability law, which means we know the best ways to help you with suing for defective products in the state. Call us at 866-294-7467 or visit our website to get a free consultation today. Let us help you get the compensation you deserve.
