Should a Product Manufacturer be Held Liable for Failing to Recall a Product Learned to be Defective?
In this era of consumerism and government regulation, we are constantly learning of errors in product manufacture which either require or compel recall. Litigants, who have been the victim of product defect, are now training their sights on the proposition that a manufacturer has a legal/factual duty to recall and correct a product defect if that defect was recognized and correctible before the accident event. There is, however, little defining law on this topic. Nevertheless, common sense and morality should direct our legal analysis. The following review demonstrates the rationale for allowing juries to consider whether a product manufacturer has an obligation and whether it has satisfied its obligation to recall and correct a product defect. A recall is a term of law which refers to the act of acquiring back a product for repair or replacement. Often, these recalls are associated with retrofitting the product with a modified feature that eliminates the danger. The theory of a post s
