Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C. | May 2, 2017 | Products Liability
If you or someone that you love has been injured by a product in New York City, one question often arises: Was your misuse of the product to blame, or a problem with the product itself? Many come to us here at Rosenbaum and Rosenbaum, P.C. unsure of that answer. One way to know for certain is to consider the promises made by the seller and/or manufacturer of the product. If it failed to live up to the expectation set by its warranty, you may have a case for seeking compensation.
According to the pattern jury instructions for New York (as shared by the New York Bar Association), breach of express warranty is a valid reason to pursue a product liability claim. Express warranties can be either spoken or written, but basically they serve as stated guarantees of performance and reliability, which, if not met, constitute a product failure. An example may be the support limits associated with a weight-bearing structure, such as scaffolding. If the scaffolding is advertised (either in print or in person) as being able to support 600 pounds, and yet it fails under only 500 pounds of weight, then the breach of express warranty standard is met. Who is held liable depends on who offered the warranty. If a product label or manual made the guarantee, then the manufacturer would most likely be liable. If it was made as part of a sales pitch, liability would like fall to the seller.
It should be noted that contractual privity does not apply to warranty liability. Thus, you may initiate action due to breach of warranty even if a product’s guarantees were not made to you directly.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in New York City
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Manhattan, NY, and need legal help, contact our New York City personal injury lawyers at Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C. to schedule a free consultation.
Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C.
100 Wall St 15th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 514-5007