SB 516 — An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in particular rights and immunities, providing for liability rules applicable to product sellers.

Bill Text

• Printer's No. 0547 View text Current pdf

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This bill establishes specific liability rules for product sellers in product liability cases in Pennsylvania.

• 42 Pa.C.S. § 8320.1

  § 8320.1. Liability rules applicable to product sellers. (a) General rule.--In a product liability action, a product seller other than a manufacturer may not be liable for damages resulting in death, injury to person or property or economic loss unless the plaintiff establishes at least one of the following: (1) (i) The product that allegedly caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff was sold by the product seller, the product seller failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the product before placing the product in the stream of commerce and the failure to exercise reasonable care was a proximate cause of the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (ii) For purposes of this paragraph, a product seller may not be considered to have failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the product based upon an alleged failure to inspect a product where there was no reasonable opportunity to inspect the product in a manner that, in the exercise of reasonable care, would have revealed the aspect of the product that allegedly caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (2) The product seller made an express warranty applicable to the product that allegedly caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff independent of an express warranty made by a manufacturer as to the same product, the product failed to conform to the product seller's express warranty and the failure of the product to conform to the product seller's express warranty caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (3) The product seller, before placing the product in the stream of commerce, exercised significant control over the design, manufacture, packaging or labeling of the product related to the alleged defect in the product that caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (4) The product seller, before placing the product in the stream of commerce, knew or reasonably should have known of the defect in the product that caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff or the product seller was in possession of facts from which a reasonable person would conclude that the product seller had or should have had knowledge of the alleged defect in the product that caused the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (5) The product seller engaged in intentional wrongdoing that was a proximate cause of the harm complained of by the plaintiff. (6) The product seller, before placing the product in the stream of commerce, held itself out as the manufacturer to the user of the product, in which case the product seller shall be liable as though the product seller were the manufacturer of the product. (b) Rental and leases.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a product seller who is engaged in the business of renting or leasing a product shall be subject to liability under subsection (a) but may not be liable to a plaintiff for the tortious act of another solely by reason of ownership of the product. (c) Certification of manufacturer identity.--(1) In a product liability action against a product seller, the product seller may file an affidavit certifying the correct identity of the manufacturer of the product that allegedly caused the injury, death or damage. (2) The product seller shall exercise due diligence in providing the plaintiff with the correct identity of the manufacturer. (d) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection: "Manufacturer." A person who: (1) Produced, created, made or constructed the product or component part of the product. (2) Designed or formulated the product or component part of the product or engaged another person to design or formulate the product or component part of the product. "Product seller." A person who, in the course of a business conducted for that purpose, sells, distributes, rents, leases, prepares, packages, labels or otherwise is involved in placing a product in the stream of commerce.

  This new section outlines the circumstances under which product sellers can be held liable in product liability actions, significantly limiting their liability compared to manufacturers.

Action History

1. April 04, 2019

   PN 0547 Referred to JUDICIARY

Sponsors

• Kristin Phillips-Hill · Cosponsor
• Folmer · Cosponsor
• Scott E. Hutchinson · Cosponsor
• Mensch · Cosponsor
• Patrick J. Stefano · Cosponsor
• Lisa Baker · Primary
• Kim L. Ward · Cosponsor

Subjects