Opinion ID: 4536271
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: to provide a short cut to liability where

Text: negligence may be present but difficult to prove; (2) to provide an economic incentive for improved product safety; (3) to induce allocation of resources towards safer products; and (4) to spread the risk of loss among all who use the product. Barrett v. Superior Court, 272 Cal. Rptr. 304, 309 (Ct. App. 1990) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). These interests are certainly legitimate. GE, however, contends that these interests are insignificant in this case, arguing that the plaintiffs “cannot manufacture a true conflict by invoking irrelevant policies and interests.” It argues that policies underlying California’s strict-products-liability law “are immaterial here because there are no ‘products’ at issue.” But that is not the case. While it is true that the district court previously commented that “[t]he FNPP was evidently not a product ‘placed on the market,’” Cooper II, 166 F. Supp. 3d at 1129, the claims against GE do not arise out of the FNPP as a single entity. 24 COOPER V. TOKYO ELEC. POWER CO. GE manufactured particular parts of the Fukushima Daiichi facility—the reactors. The fact that reactors were not marketed broadly to consumers does not detract from the fact that they were designed and built for the FNPP. That is sufficient, in a proper case, to be subject to California’s products liability rules. See Rawlings v. D.M. Oliver, Inc., 159 Cal. Rptr. 119, 122 (Ct. App. 1979) (holding that the fact that a product was not mass produced has no effect on the manufacturer’s responsibilities in manufacturing and selling products). Although there are no California defendants in this case, there are plaintiffs who are California residents. And California has a legitimate interest in ensuring that its injured residents are compensated for injuries resulting from the design and manufacture of faulty products, as well as providing an easy way to prove liability. So, the interests served by California’s strict-products-liability laws are also relevant. We conclude, as did the district court, that there is a socalled “true conflict” here. California has an interest in holding manufacturers of defective products liable in tort to ensure compensation for its residents. Japan, on the other hand, has an interest in consistent application of its liabilitylimiting statute to businesses participating in its nuclear industry. We therefore move to the final step of the analysis.