Opinion ID: 1720415
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Heading: alabama manufacturer's liability doctrine

Text: Although earlier Alabama cases had employed the manufacturer's liability doctrine, rejecting the privity of contract requisite in warranty claims, Casrell v. Altec Industries, Inc., 335 So.2d 128 (Ala.1976), and Atkins v. American Motors Corp., 335 So.2d 134 (Ala.1976), refined the cause of action to its presently recognized status and labeled it the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine. Together, Casrell and Atkins changed products liability cases in this State from the pure form of negligence theory to a modified version of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A (1965), strict liability theory, premising liability on proof that the injured ultimate user: 1) suffered injury or damages to himself or his property by one who sells a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the plaintiff as the ultimate user or consumer, if (a) the seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and (b) it is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold. (2) Showing these elements, the plaintiff has proved a prima facie case although (a) the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product, and (b) the user or consumer has not bought the product from, or entered into any contractual relation with, the seller. Casrell, at 132-133; Atkins, at 141; Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A (1965). Additionally, AEMLD allows defendants to escape liability by proving certain permitted legal defenses such as contributory negligence, assumption of risk and lack of causal relationship. Moreover, this Court rejects the no-fault concept embodied in the Restatement (Second) of Torts, and notes that fault is supplied by the defendant's selling a product in a defective condition, unlike before, when fault was shown by the careless conduct of the defendant, i. e., his failure to exercise due care in the manufacture, design, sale or placement of the product into the stream of commerce. Emphasis is now shifted from the Defendant's performance to the product's performance. It is precisely because of these unique features, allowing certain affirmative defenses, retaining the fault concept, and preserving the distinctions between tort and contract remedies, that Alabama modifies the Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A. Although this hybrid form of strict liability in products liability cases still retains vestiges endemic to the negligence cause of action, it substantially opened the way for injured ultimate users to sue the manufacturer, supplier or retailer for injuries proximately caused by a defective, unreasonably dangerous, unaltered product when put to its intended, usual and customary use.