Opinion ID: 2912790
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: through reliance upon it in a

Text: transaction that he intends the information to influence or knows that 9 the recipient so intends or in a substantially similar transaction. Intertek acknowledges the Bilt-Rite exception, but argues that § 552 is unavailing to Brand because it was not in the “limited group” of people “for whose benefit and guidance” Intertek provided information. Specifically, Intertek contends that the information David Brand received from its website could not have been the basis of a valid negligent misrepresentation claim because information on the Internet is provided to the public, not to a limited group. And it argues that a valid claim could not be based on the Test Data Sheet because that information was provided to Reecon, not Brand directly (even though Brand eventually received it). Even if Intertek is correct that a website cannot provide the foundation for a negligent misrepresentation claim, it is wrong that the Test Data Sheet could not do so. Intertek urges us to read § 552 to mean that a negligent misrepresentation claim is viable only when a defendant provides information directly to a plaintiff. We decline to do so because that reading is contradicted by the plain text of § 552(2)(a), which permits claims by a third party when a professional provides information and “knows that the recipient intends to supply it” to the third party. That is precisely what happened here: Intertek knew that Reecon was not the only party relying on its testing information based on Reecon’s testing application that listed “BMG” as a buyer of the Thermablasters. In any event, the Bilt-Rite exception applies even if Intertek did not know that “BMG” meant that Brand was the buyer of the heaters, as it asserts in its reply brief. In discussing its rationale for adopting § 552, the Pennsylvania 10 Supreme Court noted that an information supplier’s liability for negligent misrepresentation does not depend on the supplier’s knowledge of the recipient’s identity: [W]ith fewer generalists and more experts operating in the business world, business persons have found themselves in a position of increasing reliance upon the guidance of those possessing special expertise. Oftentimes, the party ultimately relying upon the specialized expertise has no direct contractual relationship with the expert supplier of information, and therefore, no contractual recourse if the supplier negligently misrepresents the information to another in privity. And yet, the supplier of the information is well aware that this third party exists (even if the supplier is unaware of his specific identity) and well knows that the information it has provided was to be relied upon by that party. Section 552 . . . hold[s] such professionals to a traditional duty of care for foreseeable harm. Bilt-Rite, 866 A.2d at 286 (emphasis added). As Bilt-Rite makes clear, Intertek didn’t need to know that Brand, specifically, would rely on its testing data for § 552 to apply. Instead, Intertek needed to know only that somebody aside from Reecon would rely on it—and, given that Reecon’s testing application listed multiple parties as “Buyer[s]” of the Thermablasters, it certainly knew that much. Therefore, the District Court correctly permitted Brand’s negligent misrepresentation claim to proceed under 11 Pennsylvania’s Bilt-Rite exception to the economic loss doctrine.