Court Opinion

ID: 9638676
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:50:06.044632+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:08.718053
License: Public Domain

STEPHENSON, Justice,
dissenting.
In my opinion the only error on the part of the trial court was the failure to give a directed verdict to the respondent here.
Ordinarily in “products liability” cases, I think of design defects as failure to provide proper safety measures in design. For example: lawn mowers, farm machinery, etc. In the machinery cases it is the product itself that has the propensity to cause harm to the user.
Here the T-shirt was manufactured in conformity with applicable federal standards for flammability. In the circumstances of this case, it is absurd to have a jury decide whether the T-shirt is “unreasonably dangerous.” Had the manufacturer used highly flammable materials in the garment, I could understand submission of the case to the jury, but not in this situation.