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Tennessee Supreme Court hears challenge to Kaufman rule in seat-belt-extender/booster-seat case
Summary
In consolidated appeals arising from a child’s injury, attorneys disputed whether the court’s Kaufman ruling bars duty-to-warn claims where harm allegedly resulted from the interaction of a Ford seat-belt extender and a Dorel booster seat used in a Nissan Juke.
The Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral argument over whether its decision in Kaufman bars product-liability failure-to-warn claims when harm arises from two manufacturers’ products used together — here, a Ford seat-belt extender, a Dorel booster seat and use in a Nissan Juke.
Plaintiff counsel argued the Kaufman rule does not control because the defendants here manufactured the products the plaintiff alleges were defective and because the suit challenges warnings and instructions that accompanied those products. "Here, Ford certainly made the seat belt extender that harmed Ethan Woodruff, and Dorel certainly made the booster seat that harmed Ethan Woodruff," counsel for the Woodruffs told the court, adding that statutes and tests such as the consumer-expectation and prudent-manufacturing tests remain available under the Tennessee Product Liability Act (TPLA).
Counsel for Ford…
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