Product liability litigation allows consumers to seek legal recourse for injuries caused by faulty products. Burden of proof varies by jurisdiction, with the US requiring proof of negligence and Europe only requiring proof of causation. Claims can be based on faulty design, manufacturing defects, or failure to provide proper warnings. Design defects are inherent in the product’s design, while manufacturing defects occur during production. Failure to provide proper warnings can also lead to liability.
When a consumer has been injured by a product, they often have a legal recourse through product liability litigation. Jurisdictions differ on what the plaintiff’s burden of proof is in a product liability dispute case. In the United States, a plaintiff must prove negligence on the part of the manufacturer, designer, distributor or retailer. In Europe, a plaintiff need only prove that the product was the cause of his injuries, as product liability is an objective tort in most of Europe. Product liability litigation generally claims one of three things: a faulty design, a defect in the manufacturing of the product, or a failure to give notice.
When the inherent design of a product is faulty, an injured consumer can initiate product liability litigation in an attempt to obtain compensation for his or her injuries. A design defect is a defect in any manufactured product because the defect is in the design itself. A design flaw is sometimes referred to as an intentional flaw, not because it was intentionally flawed, but because the flaw was part of the intentional design. A brake pad that melts when the vehicle reaches a certain speed is an example of a design flaw.
Unlike a design defect, a manufacturing defect only occurs in a small majority of the product. In product liability litigation based on a manufacturing defect, something in the manufacturing process itself caused the defect. Manufacturing defects are often referred to as unintentional defects because if the product had been manufactured according to design, there would have been no defect and, therefore, no damage. Using the example of the brake pads, if the machine that grinds the brake pads during production was not calibrated correctly during the production of some pads, causing them to fail, this would be a manufacturing defect.
Another area of product liability litigation involves injuries based on failure to give notice. Some products are dangerous regardless of the efforts of designers or manufacturers to make them safe. For example, cleaning products often contain harmful chemicals necessary for the product to achieve its intended purpose; however, if inhaled or misused, they can be extremely harmful. Consequently, intrinsically dangerous products must contain appropriate warnings so that the consumer is aware of the danger. When a product has failed to provide the appropriate warning and a consumer suffers injury as a result, the consumer may have the basis for a product liability lawsuit.
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