Opinion ID: 2972311
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Manufacturing Defect Legal Standard

Text: Under Kentucky law, a manufacturing defect exists in a product when it leaves the hands of the manufacturer in a defective condition because it was not manufactured or assembled in accordance with its specifications. See Ford Motor Co. v. McCamish, 559 S.W.2d 507, 509-11 (Ky. App. 1977). A manufacturing defect claim requires the jury to determine whether the product failed because of an error in the process of manufacture or assembly. Id. With respect to Greene’s strict liability theory, Kentucky has adopted RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 402A. See Dealers Transp. Co. v. Battery Distrib. Co., 402 S.W.2d 441, 446-47 (Ky. 1965). Under § 402A, the defendant is held strictly liable if the plaintiff proves the product was “in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer.” Montgomery Elevator Co. v. McCullough by McCullough, 676 S.W.2d 776, 780 (Ky. 1984). Proceeding under a strict liability theory does not require the plaintiff to prove fault on the part of defendant. The plaintiff must, however, establish causation under the “substantial factor” test. King v. Ford Motor Co., 209 F.3d 886, 893 (6th Cir. 2000). “[P]laintiff must prove that the defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor in bringing about plaintiff’s harm.” Id. Nothing precludes a plaintiff from using circumstantial evidence to prove a products liability case so long as the evidence is “sufficient to tilt the balance from possibility to probability.” Id. The Restatement (Second) of Torts provides that “unreasonably dangerous” means a product 8 that is “dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics.” RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 402A cmt. i (1965). “Defective” means “that the product does not meet the reasonable expectations of the ordinary consumer as to its safety.” Worldwide Equip., Inc. v. Mullins, 11 S.W.3d 50, 55 (Ky. App. 1999).