In the case that is mentioned, Richard Welge is the plaintiff whose hand has been damaged while he was closing the cap on the jar made of glass containing the peanuts. The accident happened after the jar broke in the hands of Welge while he was pushing the cap on the jar to close it. After the accident happened the hand of Welge was reported to have permanently impaired (Lawshelf, 2018). It led the plaintiff to sue the defendants of the case including the peanut manufacturer, the Jar manufacturer, and the convenience store from which he bought the peanut jar. Even though the product was bought from the convenience store of K-mart, the case description shows that the product had a design defect. It shows clearly that the retailer and the distributor do not bear the product’s liability. The packaging of the product was the responsibility of the manufacturer of the Peanuts, and the manufacturer bears the product liability as it needed to ensure that the product is packaged safely. As the jar material used for the product packaging has been found defective or unsuitable, the principal manufacturer of the peanuts and not the jar manufacturer are liable to the plaintiff damage, and therefore Welge would be able to recover the liability from the Peanuts manufacturer (CaseBriefs.Com, 1994).
The defenses that can be put forward by the defendants (the Jar manufacturer, the convenience store and the peanut manufacturer includes.
The Jar manufacturer can be unaware of the purpose of the jar, and thus it can have developed a wrong structure for the product. Furthermore, the packaging is developed as per the specifications provided given by the peanuts manufacturer. Thus, Jar manufacturer cannot be held liable. The prime reason for the accident has been the improper packaging, and thus the retailer cannot be accounted for and held liable for the packaging of the product. The Peanut manufacturer, on the other hand, held’s little defense to offer as it is liable for the product liability (Karlan, 1994).
References
CaseBriefs.Com. (1994). Welge v. Planters Lifesavers Co. Retrieved from https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law
/torts/torts-keyed-to-farnesworth/strict-liability-in-products-liability/welge-v-planters-lifesavers-co/
Karlan, P. (1994). Welge v. Planters Lifesavers Co. Retrieved from https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/collages/4367
Lawshelf. (2018). Defects. https://lawshelf.com/courseware/entry/defects
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