Opinion ID: 1114117
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Product misuse as an AEMLD affirmative defense

Text: I also disagree with the majority's interpretation of the product misuse defense. We have held that a misuse of a product occurs when a plaintiff utilizes the product in some manner different from that intended by the manufacturer; the misuse must not have been `reasonably foreseeable by the seller or manufacturer.' Kelly v. M. Trigg Enterprises, Inc., 605 So.2d 1185 (Ala.1992). For other definitions of product misuse corresponding to this Court's holding in M. Trigg Enterprises, see the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A Cmt. h (A product is not [defective] when it is safe for normal handling and consumption. If [injury] results from abnormal handling.... abnormal preparation.... [or] abnormal consumption, the seller is not liable); W. Prosser and W. Keeton, The Law of Torts § 102 (5th ed. 1984) (misuse is a utilization different from what was intended, and it is unforeseeable misuse in that the utilization could not have been reasonably anticipated by the manufacturer); L. Frumer and M. Friedman, Products Liability § 15.01 (1984) (misuse is the abnormal or unintended use of the product if that use was not reasonably foreseeable). Product misuse, by definition, concerns an action taken by a person in utilizing the product in question which was both unintended and unforeseeable by the manufacturer. A court should look to both of these issues in determining whether the plaintiff's utilization of the product falls under the product misuse defense. A manufacturer may not intend for a product to be utilized in a certain manner; however, if that utilization was foreseeable, the product misuse defense does not bar recovery. Of course, if the product was intended for a certain purpose or purposes and is utilized for the intended purpose or purposes, that utilization is foreseeable, and does not bar recovery. Only if the utilization of the product was both unintended by the manufacturer and was not reasonably foreseeable by that manufacturer, will the product misuse defense bar the plaintiff's recovery in an AEMLD action. This two-pronged definition of the product misuse defense corresponds with the Court's holding in both M. Trigg Enterprises and Atkins, wherein the Court held that the gravamen of an AEMLD action is that the plaintiff was injured by a defective product while putting the product to its intended use. Atkins, 335 So.2d at 139. In my opinion, the questions as to Mr. Hicks's alleged misuse of the Thaxton plug must encompass both the manufacturer's intention for the use of the product and the manufacturer's ability to foresee that use. The majority, however, correctly defines product misuse but limits its application of that defense to that use that was not reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer. 652 So.2d at 219. I believe, following M. Trigg Enterprises, that the manufacturer's intention must first be determined. If it can be shown that Thaxton intended for the plug to used in the manner in which it was used in this case, then the question of foreseeability would need not arise; there would be no product misuse defense available. Clearly, as stated above, if a manufacturer intends for its product be used in a certain manner, then it would also be foreseeable to that manufacturer that such use would occur.