Opinion ID: 2273026
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Fault of a Strict Liability Plaintiff

Text: In order to complete our answer to the certified question, we must also determine what fault on the part of a plaintiff in a strict liability action will be considered against him in applying section 156. As we have already noted, fault on the part of a plaintiff is defined by section 156 expressly in terms of what would, apart from th[at] section, give rise to the defense of contributory negligence. See Wing v. Morse, 300 A.2d at 499. Thus, the comparative negligence statute does not create any new defenses. Id. Its sole purpose is to eliminate the harsh, all-or-nothing consequence of the contributory negligence defense. The statutory language, apart from this section, places upon this court the task of determining under Maine law to what extent, if any, the defense of contributory negligence would be available in an action under section 221, if section 156 had never been enacted. Stating the question in that fashion, we are led to conclude, for the purposes of answering the question now certified to us, that contributory negligence consisting merely in a failure to discover the defect in the product or to guard against the possibility of its existence is not fault of the plaintiff under section 156; but that on the other hand contributory negligence of a form commonly passing under the name of assumption of the risk, [8] consisting in voluntarily and unreasonably proceeding to encounter a known danger, does constitute such fault. Maine's section 221 derives almost verbatim from the black letter of section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965). See Adams v. Buffalo Forge Co., 443 A.2d at 940. Section 221 does not have anything to say about what defenses are available to a strict products liability claim. [9] Mrs. Austin contends that the legislature intended sub silentio to limit defenses to strict liability in exactly the way set forth in comment that accompanied the black letter of the Restatement's section 402A. That comment n reads in full as follows: n. Contributory negligence. Since the liability with which this Section deals is not based upon negligence of the seller, but is strict liability, the rule applied to strict liability cases (see § 524) applies. Contributory negligence of the plaintiff is not a defense when such negligence consists merely in a failure to discover the defect in the product, or to guard against the possibility of its existence. On the other hand the form of contributory negligence which consists in voluntarily and unreasonably proceeding to encounter a known danger, and commonly passes under the name of assumption of risk, is a defense under this Section as in other cases of strict liability. If the user or consumer discovers the defect and is aware of the danger, and nevertheless proceeds unreasonably to make use of the product and is injured by it, he is barred from recovery. [10] We reject Mrs. Austin's argument in its full implications. The legislature cannot be treated to have enacted something that they patently refrained from enacting. By its silence on questions of defense, the legislature has elected to leave to this court the task of enunciating, by the traditional case-by-case, common law techniques, those defenses that are available in section 221 cases. On the other hand, the Restatement's comment n, and section 524 to which it refers, are instructive on the state of the common law of strict liability defenses in 1973 when the legislature enacted section 221 delineating the elements of a cause of action in strict products liability. We recognize that the legislative history of our strict liability law adds force to the usual respect any court should accord comment n as the scholarly work product of the American Law Institute. At the very least, comment n demonstrates two principles of the common law of strict liability against which the 1973 Legislature enacted section 221: first, that assumption of the risk, consisting in voluntarily and unreasonably proceeding to encounter a known risk, is a defense to a strict liability claim and, second, that such assumption of the risk is a form of contributory negligence. The first principle finds wide support in the authorities. See Henderson v. Ford Motor Co., 519 S.W.2d 87, 90 (Tex.1974); 2 L. Frumer & M. Friedman, Products Liability § 16A[5][f], at 3B-210.1 (November 1980); W. Prosser, Law of Torts § 79, at 523 (4th ed. 1971); cf. Sandy v. Bushey, 124 Me. 320, 323, 128 A. 513, 514 (1925) (injured party's unnecessarily and voluntarily putting himself in a way to be hurt knowing the probable consequences of his act bars him from asserting strict liability of the owner of a known vicious animal). The second principle, as applied specifically to the section 156 definition of a plaintiff's fault is identical to the holding of Wilson v. Gordon, 354 A.2d 398, 401-03 (Me.1976), that voluntary (as distinguished from contractual) assumption of the risk is no longer recognized in Maine separate from contributory negligence. Noncontractual assumption of the risk is a type of contributory negligence for purposes of section 156. Thus, contributory negligence of the nature that formerly was separately denominated assumption of the risk is a defense to a strict liability claim and so counts as fault on the part of Mr. Austin under section 156. To complete our answer to the certified question, we are still left with a final question as to Mr. Austin's fault: Does any contributory negligence of Mr. Austin other than assumption of the risk constitute a defense to this strict products liability claim? As we understand the evidence in the pending federal case, the answer is no. Undoubtedly, comment n correctly summarized the common law in 1965 when it stated: Contributory negligence of the plaintiff is not a defense when such negligence consists merely in a failure to discover the defect in the product, or to guard against the possibility of its existence. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A, comment n. Cases decided since publication of section 402A have almost uniformly declared the same principle in absence of any comparative fault rule moderating the draconian result of a contributory negligence defense. See Smith v. Smith, 278 N.W.2d 155, 160-61 (S.D.1979); Powers, 51 Tex.L. Rev. at 799; Prosser, supra at 522. Recent cases typified by Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal.3d 725, 575 P.2d 1162, 144 Cal.Rptr. 380 (1978) (ordinary contributory negligence of plaintiff to be considered in apportioning damages), are not authorities for a contrary answer to the question we are now addressing. Before Daly, the California Supreme Court by case decision had developed both strict products liability [11] and pure comparative fault apportionment of tort damages. [12] In that context Daly represents the California court's completion of the judicial evolution of a consistent body of products liability law. In contrast, in Maine both the strict liability and comparative negligence rules have been legislatively imposed, with their own special constraints. By our analysis, those statutes leave us only to determine whether contributory negligence would be a defense to strict liability in the absence of section 156. Any contributory negligence on Mr. Austin's part consisting merely in failing to discover the defect in the asbestos product or to guard against the possibility of its existence is not a defense to the section 221 claim and so is not fault of the plaintiff under section 156. Limiting the contributory negligence defense in a section 221 action is not only mandated by the statutory language of the comparative negligence statute, but also results in an otherwise desirable approach to damage allocation in strict liability actions. To penalize a consumer for a failure to discover or to guard against a defect places a burden on him that the doctrine of strict products liability intended to remove. Products placed in commerce are presumed to be reasonably safe. Section 221 places an obligation on manufacturers and suppliers to market reasonably safe products. The seller becomes subject to liability if an unreasonably dangerous product causes injury. There is no reason why a plaintiff should be expected to inspect products for defects or to guard against them. In conclusion, we answer the certified question as follows: Yes; section 156 is applicable to plaintiff's strict liability claim, to the extent of requiring comparison of defendant's fault, if any, under section 221 with Blaine Austin's fault, if any, consisting in voluntarily and unreasonably proceeding to encounter a danger known to him. The Clerk will transmit these instructions to the District Court of the United States, District of Maine. So ordered. All concurring.