Court Opinion

ID: 48846
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2010-04-25 23:49:49+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:30.073635
License: Public Domain

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  PER CURIAM:
  
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  Plaintiffs-Appellants Suzanne and Robert Atkinson (“Appellants”) challenge the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee Dolgencorp Inc. (“Appellee”) dismissing Appellants’ strict liability claim.
 

  Suzanne Atkinson (“Atkinson”) walked in to Appellee’s general store intending to buy a chair. She saw and inquired about a plastic chair that she was considering purchasing. Appellants allege that when Atkinson sat in the chair, it collapsed, injuring her.
 

  Appellants filed suit alleging strict liability pursuant to La. Civ.Code. Ann. art. 2317 (1996). Appellee moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted the motion. This timely appeal followed.
 

  Appellants concede that, under La. Civ. Code. Ann. art. 2317.1, Appellee is liable only for damage caused by a defect that it knew or should have known existed. Appellants’ only attempt to satisfy their burden is the doctrine of
  
   res ipsa loquitur.
  

  The district court, applying Louisiana precedent, found the doctrine inapplicable. After reviewing the issue
  
   de novo,
  
  we agree with the district court that, for the reasons stated in its written memorandum,
  
   res ipsa loquitur
  
  does not apply. Louisiana courts have not extended the doctrine to new chairs that break in a retail stores, and sitting as an
  
   Erie
  
  court, we see no reason to extend Louisiana law.
 

  AFFIRMED.
 

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   Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.