Court Opinion

ID: 9777070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:54:21.752823+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:47.356167
License: Public Domain

OSBORNE, Judge
(dissenting).
This case represents another step down the path of socializing losses that was started in Dealers Transport Company v. Battery Distributing Co., Ky., 402 S.W.2d 441. My opinion of this sashay is fully set out in a dissent in Kroger Co. v. Bowman, Ky., 411 S.W.2d 339. The pseudo-legal jargon in which the opinion is couched is so vaporous that to attempt to attack it with legal principles would be like fighting the ocean with a sieve.
The opinion contains one blatant untruth which requires some comment. It states, “If the dire consequences of using 220 D. C. had been forcefully and adequately posted — the appellee would prevail as a matter of law.” It is my opinion it would have made no difference if the lettering had been ten feet tall and in flashing strobe lights. The result would have been the same. This opinion is the result of the doctrine of absolute liability without regard to negligence which has been imposed upon manufacturers of commercial articles. Its proponents seek to conceal the fact with the use of legal jargon in a pretence toward applying legal principles. I believe we should clear the air and call the movement what it is — social engineering to socialize losses, Plant, Strict Liability of Manufacturers for Injuries Caused by Defects in Products — An Opposing View, 24 Tenn.L.Rev. 938.
Appellant received a fair trial before a jury which found against him. It is my opinion that that judgment should be affirmed.
For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.