Opinion ID: 1479434
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability

Text: The plaintiff's allegation of a breach of implied warranty is premised on G.L. 1956 (1969 Reenactment) § 6A-2-314, [2] which discusses the merchantability of goods. A review of the evidence fails to demonstrate any negation of the requirements of merchantability by defendant, Amway. This implied warranty is breached when a product of fair average quality does not pass in the trade and is unfit for the ordinary purpose for which it is used, which in this case was the cleansing of the body. Handrigan v. Apex Warwick, Inc., 108 R.I. 319, 322-23, 275 A.2d 262, 264-65 (1971); Bosway Tube & Steel Corp. v. McKay Machine Co., 65 Mich. App. 426, 431, 237 N.W.2d 488, 490 (1975); § 6A-2-314. The plaintiff did not present any evidence from which a jury reasonably could have inferred that Nature Shower was a liquid soap that would not pass without objection in the trade. Nor did plaintiff offer proof to show that Nature Shower was not of fair average quality or fit for the ordinary purpose of cleaning. The plaintiff has merely proven the happening of an occurrence; she demonstrates that she developed a skin condition following the use of Nature Shower in September 1976 but has not proved the causal nexus between the happening of the occurrence and the alleged breach of the implied warranty of merchantability. The plaintiff is not bound to exclude every other possible cause of her condition but she is required to show that the probable cause was the soap. Benavides v. Stop & Shop, Inc., 346 Mass. 154, 156-58, 190 N.E.2d 894, 896-97 (1963); see also San Antonio v. Warwick Club Ginger Ale Co., 104 R.I. 700, 709-10, 248 A.2d 778, 783 (1968). Because we find that the evidence does not establish beyond conjecture that the soap was deleterious and that the ailment of which plaintiff complains was due to the soap rather than to many other factors that could have caused the rash, we affirm the directed verdict in regard to the implied warranty count.