Court Opinion

ID: 9466798
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:28:01.358407+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:57.860607
License: Public Domain

VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judge
(dissenting):
If there was ever an English word whose meaning is crystal clear, that word is “caustic”. The Century Dictionary of 1895 said that it meant “capable of burning, corroding, or destroying the tissue of animal substances.” The New Century Dictionary (1931) defines it as “capable of burning, corroding, or destroying animal tissue.” In Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1971) “caustic” is defined as “capable of destroying the texture of anything or eating away its substance by chemical action” and “capable of destroying animal or other organic tissue.” Webster’s New Elementary Dictionary, intended for use by school children in the elementary grades, says that “caustic” means “capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action.” It is the “caustic” action of chemical drain cleaners that destroys the organic matter in clogged drains and that can be equally injurious to human tissue.
When the label on a product urges “CAUTION”, stating that the product contains caustic components and that contact with the skin should be avoided, preferably by use of protective clothing, I suggest that no reasonable person can be in doubt as to what she is being warned against. When, as in the instant case, the plaintiff has been using the product for 10 months, has been warned orally that it could be harmful to her skin, and on several occasions has burned her hands seriously enough to require medical treatment, I can see no basis whatever for a finding that she is the innocent victim of inadequate warning. I would reverse. See Verdiglione v. Ridge Lumber, Inc., 23 A.D.2d 817, 258 N.Y.S.2d 471 (1965), aff’d, 17 N.Y.2d 740, 270 N.Y. S.2d 208, 217 N.E.2d 33 (1966); Stief v. J. A. Sexauer Manufacturing Co., 380 F.2d 453 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 897, 88 S.Ct. 220, 19 L.Ed.2d 216 (1967); Moschkau v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 282 F.2d 878 (7th Cir. 1960); Hunter v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 170 F.Supp. 352 (W.D.Mo. 1958).