Opinion ID: 1114117
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Heading: Contributory negligence as an AEMLD affirmative defense

Text: In Casrell v. Altec Industries, Inc., 335 So.2d 128 (Ala.1976) and Atkins, supra, the Court produced the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine (AEMLD). In those cases, the Court attempted to develop a products liability doctrine that would level the playing field for consumers attempting to recover for injuries resulting from defective products. For far too long in Alabama, delinquent manufacturers of defective products were shielded by the problems that warranty and negligence law posed for injured consumers seeking recompense. The complexities of discovery and proof in products liability cases, particularly in negligence cases, made proving the manufacturer's liability almost insurmountably difficult. These difficulties grew with the advent of mass media advertising and subtle merchandising, wherein manufacturers convey a sense of safety and quality to consumers who rely upon those manufacturers to produce safe, nondefective products. In retrospect, it is clear that the Atkins court did not go far enough in its efforts to protect the consumers of Alabama from unreasonable risks occurring from inferior products. The Atkins Court, although basing the AEMLD upon Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965), retained the concept of fault-based recovery through its theory of negligence as a matter of law; that is, the sale of a defective product is itself indicative of negligence on the manufacturer's part. That theory alone would not have tainted Alabama's products liability law. [2] However, this Court's subsequent interpretations of Atkins have left open a corridor for manufacturers to maintain the contributory negligence defense as a total bar against recovery. See General Motors Corp. v. Saint, 646 So.2d 564 (Ala.1994) (Ingram, J., dissenting); Campbell v. Cutler Hammer, Inc., 646 So.2d 573 (Ala.1994) (Ingram, J., dissenting). The Saint and Cutler Hammer cases threaten the progressive step taken by the Court in Dennis v. American Honda Motor Co., 585 So.2d 1336 (Ala.1991), whereby contributory negligence relating to accident causation was held as an invalid AEMLD defense. This is so, even though the Atkins Court noted that AEMLD permitted the contributory negligence defense only in proper cases (e.g., plaintiff's misuse of the product ). Atkins, 335 So.2d at 143 (emphasis added). As I stated in my dissent in Saint, I believe that the doctrine of contributory negligence should be abandoned as a viable defense in products liability cases. While I believe that contributory negligence is a severely outmoded concept when applied in ordinary negligence cases, see Simmons v. Central Concrete Products Co., 619 So.2d 1335 (Ala.1993) (Ingram, J., dissenting), it is even more clear that there should be no place for contributory negligence where a consumer is injured by a defective product. I believe that the purpose of the AEMLD is to protect the consumer from risks that have been created by a defective product. Therefore, I disagree with the majority's holding that allows Thaxton to assert the defense of contributory negligence in this case.