Opinion ID: 2995412
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Post-Sale Negligence

Text: The Lands alternately contend that even if Indiana law applies, their case is not barred by the Statute of Repose. They claim, in part, that YMUS and YMC were negligent when they breached their duty to warn customers of the dangerous defect in the WaveRunner that they learned of after the original sale of the boat in question. Because this duty arose after the sale, they argue, that point in time is irrelevant and the Statute of Repose does not apply. The Indiana Products Liability Act clearly states, however, that it governs all actions that are: 1) brought by a user or consumer; 2) against a manufacturer or seller; and 3) for physical harm caused by a product; regardless of the substantive legal theory or theories upon which the action is brought. Ind. Code sec.34-20-1-1. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Indiana has held that the Statute of Repose cannot be circumvented by claiming that the manufacturer continued its negligence after the initial sale by failing to warn customers of known dangers. Dague v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 418 N.E.2d 207 (Ind. 1981). Similarly, this Court has held that post-sale failure-to-warn claims merge with the underlying product liability claims which are barred, in their entirety, by the Indiana Statute of Repose. Avery v. Mapco Gas Prods., 18 F.3d 448 (7th Cir. 1994). Unless the defect in the product was not present at the time of the initial sale, the Statute of Repose bars all claims brought more than ten years after that sale. See Stump v. Indiana Equip. Co., 601 N.E.2d 398 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992) (noting that post- sale negligence claims are not barred by the Statute of Repose when no defect was present at the time of the original sale). In this case, the Lands concede that the WaveRunner was in the same defective condition at the time of initial sale as it was at the time of injury. They argue that a separate defect arose with the failure to warn upon knowledge of risk--a defect that was not present at the time of the sale--and therefore falls into the Stump exception to the Statute of Repose. This argument fails, however. If the product’s underlying defect was present at the time of the initial sale, as the WaveRunner’s was, the post-sale duty to warn claim does not circumvent the Statute of Repose.