Product Liability Reform: Where Are We Now?
The Texas Supreme Court recently issued a ruling in a products liability case that puts one of Texas’ early tort reforms in the spotlight.
According to Reuters, the plaintiff alleged that “a knockoff Apple TV remote sold by a Chinese third-party seller, Hu Xi Jie, was defective and allowed the battery to pop out. The remote was sold through Amazon’s ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’ service, in which the company stores sellers’ products at its warehouses and then ships them to buyers.”
In its 5-2 decision, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Amazon can’t be held liable for the third-party seller’s product under Texas’ 2003 products liability law, which was a TLR initiative.
Before 2003, retailers were often sued for injuries allegedly caused by defective products, despite the fact that the retailers had nothing to do with the design or manufacturing of the product. In many instances, the lawsuits against retailers were used to establish venue in a favorable county. House Bill 4, passed by the Legislature in 2003, included an “innocent retailers” defense, providing that a retailer who does nothing more than acquire a product and sell it to the customer cannot be held liable for a defect in the product. If, on the other hand, the retailer modifies the product in a way that makes it dangerous, it can be held liable for an injury caused by the product.
House Bill 4 also established a “government standards” defense for manufacturers that comply with all state and federal standards or regulations applicable to their product. The defense is available when there is a mandatory government standard that applies to the aspect of the product that allegedly caused the harm, if the standard is adequate to protect the public from risk. Under Texas law since 2003, a government standards defense has been available to manufacturers of a variety of products, including pharmaceuticals.
While this recent case involved a retail giant, Texas’ product liability law applies to any retailer of any size. Consider the implications, for example, for a small, family-run store selling third-party products through its brick and mortar and online storefronts. A case of this nature could be business-ending.
This case is another instance of a common-sense lawsuit reform at work in our state, nearly 20 years after its passage by the Texas Legislature.
OP-ED: “As a small business owner in Bakersfield, I know firsthand how desperate the California small business community is to catch a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has already gone on longer than anyone expected, but instead of receiving help from our state leaders in Sacramento, we are left to suffer needlessly with no end in sight.” Read and share: bit.ly/3BOMVQO
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As a small business owner in Bakersfield, I know firsthand how desperate the California small business community is to catch a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has already gone on lon...OP-ED: Texas policymakers must allow Texas employers to decide their own best practices to maintain workplace health and safety. To do otherwise would establish a concerning precedent of state interference into determining what workforce health and safety policies are best, without regard for a particular industry’s needs or the differences in manufacturing work environments. Read and share: bit.ly/3pbp22j
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The Texas economy is strong because policymakers trust employers to run their businesses in ways that grow jobs and maintain a productive workforce. A healthy workforce results in a more productive wo...Texans for Lawsuit Reform And if you dont intervene, freedom suffers another blow and socialism gains a firmer foothold because businesses have shown, regardless of need or difference of environment, they are more than willing to violate an individual’s freedom and restrict their ability to work.
Republicans in the Texas Legislature face an uphill battle as they try to pass a bill exempting most of the state’s workforce from vaccine requirements enacted by their employers. In another sign of trouble, Texans for Lawsuit Reform came out against one of the bills ordered up by Abbott, House Bill 155, which the Texas House State Affairs Committee considered Wednesday. Read and share: bit.ly/3jfBsCK
Opposition grows as Texas Republicans try to upend vaccine mandates - Texans for Lawsuit Reform
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Republicans in the Texas Legislature face an uphill battle as they try to pass a bill exempting most of the state’s workforce from vaccine requirements enacted by their employers. For one, Republica...
OP-ED: “I know firsthand how desperate the small business community is to catch a break during the #COVID19 pandemic. Instead of receiving help from our state leaders in Sacramento, we are left to suffer needlessly with no end in sight.” Read & RT: https://bit.ly/3BOMVQO
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OP-ED: Texas policymakers must allow Texas employers to decide their own best practices to maintain workplace health and safety. To do otherwise would establish a concerning precedent. Read & RT: #tortreform
Commentary: Texas employers need flexibility to maintain workplace safety - Texans for Lawsuit Reform
The Texas economy is strong because policymakers trust employers to run their businesses in ways that grow jobs and maintain a productive workforce. A...
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