Opinion ID: 2364468
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: failure to read warnings

Text: For his second point of error, appellant alleges the failure of appellant and Greg Rollins to read the labels is not dispositive of the adequacy of the warnings and it was error for the trial court to grant summary judgment on this basis. We have not previously addressed this issue. The parties have cited cases from various jurisdictions which hold both that failure to read the label precludes a claim of inadequate warning and that it does not. We think the better rule is that failure to read a label does not automatically preclude a claim for inadequate warning. We find the rule applied in Safeco Ins. Co. v. Baker, 515 So.2d 655 (La.Ct.App.1987) particularly persuasive and we adopt the reasoning therein. Safeco holds the plaintiff originally has the burden of proving the warnings or instructions provided were inadequate. Once a plaintiff proves the lack of an adequate warning or instruction, a presumption arises that the user would have read and heeded adequate warnings or instructions. This presumption may be rebutted by evidence which persuades the trier of fact that an adequate warning or instruction would have been futile under the circumstances. Safeco Ins. Co., 515 So.2d 655, 657 (La.Ct.App.1987); See also Johnson v. Niagara Mach. & Tool Works, 666 F.2d 1223 (8th Cir.1981). In this case, appellant himself admitted that he had never read a label on a cleaning product during the three years he worked at Stewart Electric. Given this, we cannot say the trial court erred in finding appellant's failure to read the label precluded his claim as any warning or instruction would have been futile since appellant would not have read it.