Product Liability

Product liability is the area of law that holds manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and retailers responsible when a product they put into the marketplace injures someone. In asbestos cases, it is the primary legal pathway used to recover compensation from the companies that made or sold asbestos-containing products. Claims can be based on a product being defectively designed, defectively manufactured, or sold without adequate warnings about its dangers.

Origin

Modern product liability law in the United States traces to the 1963 California Supreme Court decision Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, which established strict liability for defective products, and to Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts in 1965. These doctrines moved the law away from the older rule of caveat emptor (buyer beware) and placed responsibility on those who profit from selling a product.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Most asbestos lawsuits are product liability cases. To recover, the patient's legal team generally must identify the specific asbestos-containing products the patient worked with or around (insulation, joint compound, gaskets, brake linings, etc.), tie those products to specific manufacturers, and show that exposure to them was a substantial factor in causing the disease. The most common theory is failure to warn, that the manufacturer knew or should have known asbestos was hazardous but did not adequately warn workers or consumers. Internal corporate documents from companies like Johns-Manville and Owens-Illinois, dating back decades, have established that many manufacturers knew of the danger long before they warned the public, which is why product liability claims have remained viable even for exposures from the 1940s through 1970s.

Example Sentence

After her husband was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the attorney explained that his product liability claims would target the manufacturers of the pipe insulation and gaskets he handled as a Navy machinist in the 1960s.

Related Terms

Strict Liability, Failure to Warn, Substantial Factor Test, Product Identification, Negligence, Bankruptcy Trust

Notes

• Begin writing down every job, jobsite, and product brand the patient remembers being exposed to. Brand names on insulation, joint compound bags, gasket boxes, or brake parts are central to product identification.
• Preserve any physical evidence you still have: old work records, union books, Social Security earnings statements, photographs of jobsites, and any product packaging or samples in a garage or workshop.
• Ask family members and former coworkers to provide statements about products used on shared jobs; coworker testimony is often critical when the patient is too ill to recall details.
• Many manufacturers of asbestos products have filed for bankruptcy and now pay claims through trust funds rather than lawsuits; a knowledgeable asbestos firm will pursue both trust claims and product liability lawsuits against solvent defendants.
• Statutes of limitations for asbestos product liability claims typically run from the date of diagnosis (not date of exposure), but deadlines vary by state. Act promptly after diagnosis to preserve rights.