When you purchase a product, you expect it to work. You certainly don’t expect it to be so defective as to injure you or cause considerable property damage. Unfortunately, dangerous and defective products are not as uncommon as you might hope.
Although many product areas (such as baby items) have seen a decline in recalls over the last decade, defective product injury insurance is still a necessity for many businesses to provide compensation for defective products that manage to make their way into the hands of consumers. Depending on exactly what kind of damage or defect has made the product dangerous, liability may rest with one party or with several different businesses along the chain of distribution for the product.
Can you sue a complaint for defective product?
The type of law that encompasses dangerous products is called product liability. Although there is very little federal guidance for product liability law, each state provides its own set of rules and regulations. Most of them contend that your purchased product should work and not be dangerous , thus meeting the “ordinary expectations of the consumer.” Exceptions might include items that cannot perform their intended function without being dangerous, such as fireworks or knives.
If you are injured by a product, you can absolutely start the process of filing a lawsuit. You don’t have to be the person who bought the product or even the person who used it. If you used a product someone else purchased or were in the vicinity when someone else used it, you can sue a complaint for a defective product if you were legitimately injured by its correct use and subsequent defective reaction.
You cannot sue for compensation if you did not use it (perhaps you recognized something was inherently wrong with it), weren’t near when it was used, or were not injured, you cannot sue. Injury in some form must have occurred.
Whatever role you find yourself in—buyer, user, or bystander— to successfully sue for compensation for defective product injuries, you will have to prove the product was damaged or defective, through no fault of your own, in such a way that it was dangerous to use for its intended purpose.
What is product liability law?
Dangerous products may result in damage to your person (personal injury) or your property (financial damage), but either way, someone is responsible for letting a product that wasn’t safe be sold. Several someones, in fact, and you can sue a complaint for a defective product against all of them.
A product is generally considered damaged or defective for one of three reasons:
- Design defects – the actual creation of the product was flawed,
- Manufacturing defects – something went wrong during the construction of the product, or
- Marketing defects – the product carries insufficient or inaccurate warnings, instructions, or labeling.
Given this information, it makes sense that you should include every party in the chain of distribution in your lawsuit. Can a retailer be held liable for defective products? Absolutely. They may not be responsible for designing or manufacturing the item, but they certainly put it on their shelves.
What is the chain of distribution?
In fact, a retailer is probably the easiest point to discover in the chain of distribution, which includes manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. Tracking down every business involved can be a difficult process, particularly if the defective part was a smaller piece of the whole (for example, a specific type of battery in a flashlight that turned out to be combustible; nothing was wrong with the flashlight, but the type of battery they chose to include was seriously defective). When the smaller piece is at fault, the chain of distribution for that piece should also be included, from design or manufacturer to the point at which it joined the larger product. Finding all of those different links in the chain is absolutely essential to a solid suit — and it gives you a better chance of receiving the asked-for compensation for a defective product injury.
Foreign companies are also part of this list, as they typically agree to the United State’s laws by entering into commerce in this country. Online marketplaces like Amazon have been largely exempt from product liability lawsuits, although more recent court cases appear to be changing this hard and fast rule.
Another surprising fact about suing for compensation for defective product injuries is that the product does not necessarily have to be purchased first hand. Second hand products may meet the necessary standards to file a complaint. Retailers of second-hand products, however, are not always included. Items purchased from a store that specifically sells used items of a certain sort (like a used car or used appliance shop) may fall into the potential liability category, but someone having a garage sale or at a flea market is generally not considered liable.
Who is liable if I’m injured by a defective product?
Deciding who is liable may depend on exactly why the product is dangerous or at what point it became dangerous (was it in the design, or is it a failure to provide sufficient labels?). However, it may not be whose fault it is that you’re interested in, but rather whose responsibility it is to provide you compensation.
Different states may employ joint liability or several liability. In states who practice joint liability, if one defendant is unable to pay the amount of damages they are responsible for, another party has to make it up. This is the beauty of a thorough investigation into the chain of distribution.
In Kansas, however, strict several liability is practiced. This means each party is only responsible for the percentage of liability assigned to them. A thorough lawsuit encompassing the entire chain of distribution is still beneficial for a Kansas defective product liability lawsuit though. If one party is unable to make their portion of liability, when several parties are liable, you are more likely to receive at least some compensation for a defective product injury.
For More Information
If you have been injured by a damaged product, our experienced Kansas product liability personal injury lawyers can help! Kansas Injury Recovery will work to get you the compensation you deserve. For a free case evaluation to see how much you might be entitled to, contact us today at (866)684-9043 or fill out our form online. We’re the Kansas attorneys that deliver dollars for injured clients. Let us work for you.
