When is a Product Seller a "Seller" for Strict Liability Purposes?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has certified an important question of state product sliability law to the New York Court of Appeals.  A worker suffered a serious hand injury while working for Glenville Universal Packaging and operating a machine used to manufacture cardboard boxes.  The machine had been purchased second-hand in 1971 by Weyerhaeuser and used by them for 15 years before it was sold to Glenville.  The federal district court trial judge dismissed the worker's suit, agreeing with Weyerhaeuser's position that, having sold only 19 of these machines over a 25-year period, it was only a "casual" or "occasional" seller of the product and not a "regular" or "ordinary" seller.  However, other evidence showed that Weyerhaeuser owned patents on technology used in the machine and had consulted with the manufacturer on safety issues related to the machine's design.  The case is Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser, 07-0507-cv.

See Mark Hamblett's story for the New York Law Journal.

JDP