When Can a Manufacturer Be Held Liable for a Defective Product?

When can a manufacturer can be held liable for a defective product?  When their negligence is the reason the product harmed you. Talk to a product liability attorney in Victorville, CA as soon as you can to find out if your injury is likely the fault of a manufacturer and how to hold them accountable. 

When Can a Manufacturer Be Held Liable for a Defective Product?

A manufacturer becomes responsible when a product leaves its control in a defective condition that makes it unreasonably dangerous, and that defect causes harm to someone using it as intended or expected. There are three main categories of defects that can trigger this:

When It Was Made Poorly

Manufacturing defects occur when a product comes off the line but isn’t up to the intended design or specifications. Examples of this would be a contaminated batch of medication or a car part that’s assembled incorrectly. 

When It Was Designed Poorly

Design defects affect every item in a product line. With this type of problem, the product performs as planned, but the plan itself is flawed. Examples include a ladder that tips too easily under normal weight or a vehicle with an airbag system that’s prone to rupture in certain crashes.

When It Was Sold Poorly

Marketing defects, or failure-to-warn claims, can be brought when a manufacturer knows or should know of hidden dangers but does not provide adequate instructions or warnings. A cleaning chemical that doesn’t have a clear hazard label or a prescription drug where key side-effect information isn’t included would be examples of marketing defects.

Strict Liability for Manufacturers

In most states, including California, manufacturers face what’s known as strict liability for defective products. This means you do not need to prove the company actually acted carelessly. Instead, you just show the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control, the defect made it unreasonably dangerous, and the defect caused your injury. 

Strict liability applies even when the manufacturer used the highest level of care in design and production. It also applies whether or not you bought the product directly from them. The product simply needs to have reached you as the user or consumer without substantial change in its condition. 

Additional Claim Possibility

While strict liability covers many cases, you can also bring a claim based on negligence or breach of warranty. To bring a negligence claim, you have to show that the company failed to use reasonable care in designing, making, testing, or warning about the product. Then there are warranty claims, and these rest on promises made about the product.

There are two types of warranties: express and implied. An express warranty is what appears either in advertising or on packaging statements. Implied warranties are automatic and apply by law. By virtue of selling any product, a manufacturer is promising the product is fit for its ordinary purpose.

Talk to a Product Liability Attorney

If a defective product has harmed you or someone in your family, contact the Law Offices of Vondra & Hanna in Victorville, CA right away. We’ve been representing people in Old Town Victorville and throughout the High Desert for more than 30 years. 

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