Your Defective Product Personal Injury Questions Answered
Many personal injury cases involve auto accidents or premise liability. However, in some cases, you do everything right, but a seemingly harmless product you purchased may be defective enough to lead to injury. If you would like to know more, keep reading.
What Is a Defective Product?
A defective product has something wrong with it that increases the risk of injury, even if you use the product as instructed. There are three types of product defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects.
Design defects and manufacturing defects are similar, but design defects affect the entire product line because something is inherently wrong with the design. A manufacturing defect only affects a handful of products because an error occurred while building those products. In most states, the responsibility to prove negligence falls on you.
Finally, a product made properly, but lacking warnings or instructions, could lead to injury. For example, if the product is highly flammable, but there is no warning on the package, the situation could lead to a lawsuit if a customer is burned.
Who's Responsible for a Defective Product?
Product liability usually follows strict liability rules. This means that if there was a defect, the defendant is likely going to be held responsible. It doesn't matter if they didn't notice the mistake or had no intent to harm anyone.
However, if the courts determined that a reasonable person would not have noticed the defect when using it, the defendant may not be held accountable. Similarly, if the courts decided you knew about the defect before using the product or you ignored warnings, your settlement may be denied or reduced.
In defective product cases, who is the defendant? Naturally, you can sue the company that manufactured the product, but you can hold others responsible for the defect. You can sue everyone in the chain of distribution, including the company who put the product together, the manufacture of components, wholesalers, and retailers.
What If You Were Working at the Time?
If you were working at the time of the accident, you should still file a workers' compensation claim and report the injury. With workers' compensation insurance, you don't need to prove fault, and benefits are paid out faster than lawsuits, so you can get the money you need fast for medical bills and lost wages.
In most cases, if your employer provides workers' compensation, you can't sue anyone for work-related injuries. In the case of product liability, however, you can still sue anyone in the chain of distribution. When you sue, you'll be able to get more money because workers' compensation doesn't pay for everything, such as pain and suffering or all your lost income related to the accident.
With a lawsuit, you can get more money in lost wages, pain and suffering, and you may even be awarded punitive damages if the courts determined the manufacture was particularly negligent. The downside to the lawsuit is that it may take longer to get the money you need
In addition to a longer wait period, depending on your state, you may also need to repay workers' compensation any money you received through the lawsuit. For example, if workers' compensation paid for all your related medical bills, totaling $10,000, and you received another $10,000 for medical bills in the lawsuit, you will need to repay the $10,000 to workers' compensation.
Just because a product is professionally crafted, that does not mean it may not be defective. Mistakes happen, and in some cases, they can lead to a major injury. If you have been hurt by a defective product, there is a lot you can do, but you'll want a skilled attorney in your corner. If you would like to know more, contact us at the Law Office of Robert Karwin.
