Opinion ID: 1221373
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: warranty instructions

Text: The trial court instructed the jury in the language of subdivisions (1) and (2) of section 1735 of the Civil Code [] relating to the implied warranties of fitness of purpose and merchantable quality. The jurors were also told that, if there was an implied warranty under this section, there was no requirement of privity of contract between the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer, and the manufacturer would be liable, regardless of negligence, for the damage caused by any breach of this warranty. [] Sherwin Williams contends that the instructions are erroneous because, it asserts, (1) it is not liable for breach of warranty in view of the fact that it had made a disclaimer of warranty in labels which were placed on the drums of insecticide, and (2) privity of contract is essential to liability for breach of warranty. The labels which contained the disclaimer stated, DDTOL 25% EMULSIFIABLE is a solution of DDT in xylene which can be used on plants when it is mixed according to directions.... After giving mixing directions and recommendations for use on various products, such as potatoes, seed alfalfa and clover, onions, and other truck crops, but without mentioning cotton plants, the labels set forth the following chemical analysis: ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT setting point 89° C. Minimum) ......... 25.0% Xylene ..................................... 65.0% INERT INGREDIENTS: ........................... 10.0% _______ Total .................................... 100.0% Certain cautionary instructions were given, and the label concluded with the statement, Seller makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, concerning the use of this product. Buyer assumes all risk in use or handling, whether in accordance with directions or not. [11] The statutory implied warranties of quality can, of course, be disclaimed by the seller, provided the buyer has knowledge or is chargeable with notice of the disclaimer before the bargain is complete. (Civ. Code, § 1791; Miller v. Germain Seed etc. Co., 193 Cal. 62 [222 P. 817, 32 A.L.R. 1215]; Sutter v. Associated Seed Growers, Inc., 31 Cal. App.2d 543-547 [88 P.2d 144]; Couts v. Sperry Flour Co., 85 Cal. App. 156 [259 P. 108]; see Prosser, Warranty of Merchantable Quality, 27 Minn.L.Rev. 117, 157-160.) Notice of disclaimer can be conveyed to the buyer by means of printed notices on letterheads, labels and the like. ( C. Lomori & Son v. Globe Laboratories, 35 Cal. App.2d 248, 256 [95 P.2d 173]; William A. Davis Co. v. Bertrand Seed Co., 94 Cal. App. 281 [271 P. 123]; see 1 Williston on Sales [rev.ed. 1948] 631.) [12] Although plaintiffs themselves did not see the drums prior to the time their cotton crop was sprayed, they are chargeable with notice of the contents of the labels because the persons to whom the insecticide was delivered were obviously their agents for purposes of the spraying operation. [13] In determining whether an effective disclaimer of the statutory warranties has been made, we must look to the label as a whole, and the general rule is that a disclaimer is to be strictly construed against the seller. (See Prosser, Warranty of Merchantable Quality, 27 Minn.L.Rev. 117, 160; 77 C.J.S. 1151.) [14] The language of the Sherwin Williams disclaimer, when so construed, is sufficient to exclude the implied warranty contained in subdivision (1) of section 1735 of the Civil Code that the goods shall be reasonably fit for the purchaser's particular purpose. Plaintiffs' particular purpose was to use the spray as an insecticide on cotton plants, but the disclaimer expressly negatives any warranty concerning use, and nowhere does the label state that the product was suitable for cotton plants. [15] Although there is evidence that the cooperative acted as consignee-agent of Sherwin Williams for the purpose of selling the spray and might therefore have authority to make representations which would counteract the disclaimer, there is no contention that any such representations were made. It follows that instructing the jury in the terms of this subdivision of section 1735 was error. The next question is whether the label excludes the implied warranty of merchantable quality which arises under subdivision (2) of section 1735 of the Civil Code where goods are bought by description. Many definitions of merchantable quality have been given, but all of them include the basic proposition that the quoted words refer to goods which are reasonably suitable for the ordinary uses and purposes of goods of the general type described by the terms of the sale and which are capable of passing in the market under the name or description by which they were sold. (See Kenney v. Grogan, 17 Cal. App. 527, 533 [120 P. 433]; 1 Williston on Sales [rev.ed. 1948] § 243, pp. 641-643; Prosser, Warranty of Merchantable Quality, 27 Minn.L.Rev. 117, 125-139; 46 Am.Jur. 526-527; 77 C.J.S. 1184-1185.) [16] Hence it seems clear that the statutory warranty is sufficiently broad to impose liability, in the absence of disclaimer, if the goods contain an impurity of such a nature as to render them unusable, and therefore unsalable, for the general uses and purposes of goods of the kind described. The parties do not discuss, but apparently assume, that the presence of 2,4-D weed killer in the DDT spray ordered by plaintiffs would, without the asserted disclaimer, amount to a breach of the implied warranty of merchantable quality. [17] Keeping in mind the rule noted above that a disclaimer is to be strictly construed against the seller, we conclude that the Sherwin Williams disclaimer is insufficient to exclude the implied warranty of merchantable quality. The label, after describing the product and listing the ingredients, states merely that there is no warranty as to the use of this product and that the buyer assumes all risk in use. The description of the product on the label is in accord with the description of the spray which was ordered by plaintiffs, and the language of the disclaimer, when properly interpreted, is limited to a denial of any warranty that a substance which meets this description is an effective or safe insecticide. [18] The language does not purport to disclaim the implied warranty that the substance in the drums actually meets the description of the product ordered by plaintiffs so as to be generally salable in the same manner as other products of the type described. More specifically, there is nothing in the disclaimer which suggests that Sherwin Williams was refusing to warrant that the liquid in the drums was compounded so as to conform with the description and was free from any impurity which would make it unsalable for the general purposes of a product of the kind ordered by plaintiffs. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in giving an instruction upon the implied warranty of merchantable quality. We shall now consider whether the court erred in instructing the jury that an implied warranty under subdivision (1) or (2) of section 1735 of the Civil Code runs with the goods to the ultimate consumer, there being no requirement of privity of contract between the ultimate consumer and the manufacturer. [19] The general rule is that privity of contract is required in an action for breach of either express or implied warranty and that there is no privity between the original seller and a subsequent purchaser who is in no way a party to the original sale. (See Lewis v. Terry, 111 Cal. 39, 44 [43 P. 398, 52 Am.St.Rep. 146, 31 L.R.A. 220]; Cliff v. California Spray Chemical Co., 83 Cal. App. 424, 430 [257 P. 99]; 1 Williston on Sales [rev.ed. 1948] § 244, pp. 645-648; 46 Am.Jur. 489-490; 17 A.L.R. 672, 709; 140 A.L.R. 192, 249-250.) In this state an exception to the requirement of privity has been made in cases involving foodstuffs, where it is held that an implied warranty of fitness for human consumption runs from the manufacturer to the ultimate consumer regardless of privity of contract. ( Klein v. Duchess Sandwich Co., Ltd., 14 Cal.2d 272 [93 P.2d 799]; Vaccarezza v. Sanguinetti, 71 Cal. App.2d 687, 689 [163 P.2d 470].) Another possible exception to the general rule is found in a few cases where the purchaser of a product relied on representations made by the manufacturer in labels or advertising material, and recovery from the manufacturer was allowed on the theory of express warranty without a showing of privity. (See Free v. Sluss, 87 Cal. App.2d Supp. 933, 936-937 [197 P.2d 854] [soap package contained printed guarantee of quality]; Bahlman v. Hudson Motor Car Co., 290 Mich. 683 [288 N.W. 309, 312-313] [automobile manufacturer represented top of car to be made of seamless steel]; Baxter v. Ford Motor Co., 168 Wash. 456 [12 P.2d 409, 15 P.2d 1118, 88 A.L.R. 521] [automobile manufacturer represented windshield to be nonshatterable glass]; Simpson v. American Oil Co., 217 N.C. 542 [8 S.E.2d 813, 815-816] [representation on label that insecticide was nonpoisonous to humans]; Prosser on Torts [1941] 688-693; 1 Williston on Sales [rev. ed. 1948] 648-650; Feezer, Manufacturer's Liability for Injuries Caused by His Product, 37 Mich.L.Rev. 1; Jeanblanc, Manufacturer's Liability to Persons Other than Their Immediate Vendees, 24 Va.L.Rev. 134, 146-155.) Neither exception is applicable here. [20] The facts of the present case do not come within the exception relating to foodstuffs, and the other exception, where representations are made by means of labels or advertisements, is applicable only to express warranties. As we have seen, the instruction involved here dealt only with implied warranties. Accordingly, it was error for the trial court to instruct that privity was not required. The question whether plaintiffs could recover because of breach of an express warranty was apparently not presented to the jury, but, since there may be a new trial, it is appropriate to point out that the record contains sufficient evidence to show that there were representations which could form the basis of an express warranty. [21] The principal elements of an express warranty are an affirmation of fact or promise by the seller and reliance thereon by the buyer. (Civ. Code, § 1732. [] ) [22] As we have seen, the labels on the drums gave a chemical analysis of the contents which purported to list all of the active ingredients, totalling 90 per and designated the remaining 10 per cent as inert ingredients. This analysis is in effect a representation that the ingredients listed were the only active ones contained in the spray, and, if the other necessary requirements were established, the label would amount to an express warranty which would be breached by the presence of the unlisted 2,4-D weed killer. ( Cf. 1 Williston on Sales [rev.ed. 1948], 527-533.) [23] An express warranty of the chemical content of the spray, of course, is not excluded by the disclaimer, which relates only to use. We need not consider at this time whether plaintiffs can show reliance by themselves or their agents upon the statements on the label or whether they can establish that there was privity between themselves and Sherwin Williams or that they come within some exception to the rule.