Court Opinion

ID: 9720644
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:38:10.530989+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:20.273524
License: Public Domain

Peterson, Justice
(dissenting).
Notwithstanding the elaborate rationalization of the result in today’s decision, as in the recent decision of Holkestad v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. 288 Minn. 249, 180 N. W. (2d) 860, the practical result is to impose absolute liability upon the manufacturer, as an insurer, in bottle explosion cases. It now is only theoretically necessary for the injured consumer to establish the existence of a dangerous defect in the exploded bottle for, by resort to the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the mere happening of the event is held sufficient to prove the defect. Res ipsa, moreover, no longer gives rise merely to a permissible inference but will compel a favorable finding for the injured consumer. The manufacturer is effectively stripped of any defenses for, if the interested persons testify that there was no mishandling, it is now for all practical purposes impossible to adduce expert testimony upon which a jury may make a contrary finding.
There are, to be sure, important considerations of public policy to be considered. No one can quarrel with the majority’s premise that the public interest in safety is promoted by discouraging the marketing of defective products which constitute a menace to consumers not equipped to protect themselves. At a time when society is threatened with burial under mountains of nonbiodegradable trash, however, one may wonder whether the public interest is served by so effectively promoting the demise of returnable bottles.
Because I believe there was no prejudicial error in the rulings and submission of the trial court, I would affirm its order denying plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial.