In product liability Texas claims, it is important to identify the parties involved bringing a defective product to the market. An injured person may want to know: who is liable for a defective product injury in Texas? In most cases, the manufacturer is the primary defendant, but liability can also involve a component manufacturer, distributor, importer, or, in limited circumstances, a seller that did not manufacture the product.
Texas defines a products liability action broadly to include claims involving personal injury, death, or property damage allegedly caused by a defective product. To identify liable parties, an experienced Magnolia product liability lawyer will investigate what went wrong with the product, who designed or manufactured it, who altered or installed it, and what role each business played in putting it into the stream of commerce.
The Manufacturer Is the Primary Defendant
When the Manufacturer Is Responsible
The manufacturer is generally the first party examined because it designed, formulated, constructed, fabricated, produced, processed, or assembled the product or a component part and placed it into the stream of commerce. Those functions fall within the statutory definition of a manufacturer under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 82.001.
A product liability claim may be based on strict products liability, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of warranty, or another applicable theory. Strict products liability does not simply mean that a manufacturer is automatically responsible whenever someone is injured. The claimant still must establish the elements applicable to the particular defect theory and connect the defective product to the injury.
Manufacturing, Design, and Warning Defects
A manufacturing defect generally involves a product that differs from its intended design. A design-defect claim concerns the product’s design itself, while a marketing-defect claim can involve inadequate warnings or instructions.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 82 contains specific requirements concerning design defects and other products liability issues. For example, Section 82.005 addresses design-defect claims and requires proof concerning the product’s design and a safer alternative design. The precise requirements depend on the theory being asserted.
The Product Must Be Connected to the Injury
The fact that a product malfunctioned does not eliminate the need to establish causation. The evidence must connect the particular defect to the injury being claimed. That can make the product itself, its condition after the incident, its instructions, and its manufacturing history important evidence.
Component Manufacturers
A defective component can create a separate liability issue from a defect in the finished product. Texas’s statutory definition of manufacturer expressly includes someone who designs, formulates, constructs, fabricates, produces, compounds, processes, or assembles a component part and places that component into the stream of commerce.
- Tires: A manufacturing or design defect in a tire can create a claim against the company responsible for that component.
- Brakes: A defective braking component may point toward the component manufacturer rather than the maker of the finished vehicle.
- Batteries: A defective battery can involve the company that manufactured the battery or a particular component within it.
- Faulty equipment: Defective equipment at work can lead to a claim against the employer, the equipment maker, or the maintenance provider.
- Machine guards: A guard that was defectively designed or manufactured may create a separate issue involving its component maker.
The evidence must identify what part failed, why it failed, and which entity was responsible for that component.
Why You Usually Cannot Just Sue the Store
Texas Limits Claims Against Non-manufacturing Sellers
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 82.003 provides a specific rule for sellers that did not manufacture the product. The general rule is that a non-manufacturing seller is not liable for harm caused by the product unless the claimant establishes one of the statutory circumstances. That means purchasing a defective product from a retailer does not, by itself, make the retailer liable for the resulting injury.
When a Seller Can Still Face Liability
Section 82.003 identifies specific circumstances in which a nonmanufacturing seller may be liable. These include situations involving the seller’s participation in the product’s design, alteration or modification that caused the harm, or installation of the product when the installation caused the harm.
The statute also addresses warnings and instructions. A seller can face liability under the statutory conditions when it exercised substantial control over the warning or instruction, the warning or instruction was inadequate, and the inadequacy caused the claimant’s harm. Other statutory provisions address situations involving the manufacturer’s inability to be served, insolvency, and certain representations or knowledge concerning the defect.
The Seller’s Actual Role Matters
The investigation therefore needs to establish what the seller actually did. A retailer that merely placed an unopened product on its shelves presents a different legal question from a seller that modified, installed, designed, or exercised substantial control over the product or its warnings.
Distributors and Importers
A distributor can fall within Texas’s statutory definition of a seller because the term includes a person engaged in distributing or otherwise placing a product or component into the stream of commerce for commercial purposes.
An importer can also require examination when the product came from a foreign manufacturer. Identifying the businesses between the original manufacturer and the injured consumer can become important when determining which entities can properly be named in a claim.
The identity and location of the manufacturer, distributor, importer, and seller should therefore be established early rather than assuming the retail store is the proper defendant.
What This Means for Your Case
The first priority after a defective-product injury is preserving the evidence. The product may contain physical evidence that cannot be recreated after it is repaired, discarded, modified, or returned. Texas law also contains specific rules concerning products liability claims and the time in which they must be commenced, including the products-liability statute of repose in Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.012.
- Keep the product: Do not throw it away, discard it, or allow someone else to dispose of it.
- Do not repair it: Preserve its condition as it existed when the incident occurred.
- Do not return it: Do not send the product back to the retailer or manufacturer before obtaining legal advice about preserving evidence.
- Photograph everything: Take photographs of the product, damage, packaging, labels, serial numbers, warnings, and instructions.
- Preserve paperwork: Keep receipts, manuals, warranty materials, packaging, emails, and other documents connected to the product.
Magnolia product liability attorney John Ghezzi has been licensed to practice in Texas since 1995. John is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your defective-product injury claim directly with the attorney.