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Senate advances product‑seller liability changes after contentious debate and narrow committee margins
Summary
Senate Bill 70, which would limit product‑seller liability when a manufacturer can be sued, passed after lengthy debate, amendments adding Utah-specific service/process language and tolling of statutes, and pointed objections from plaintiff‑side senators. Vote on the floor: 18–6, 5 absent.
The Utah Senate advanced a package of amendments to product‑liability law on a measure that supporters said clarifies liability for sellers who act as intermediaries and opponents warned could reduce injured parties’ access to local courts.
Sponsor Senator McAllister told the floor the bill targets a narrow problem: cases where a product seller merely passes along a sealed product and has no opportunity to inspect it. "This simply deals with 1 issue and that is the liability of a product seller in those cases where they have no opportunity to examine the product sold," he said.
Opponents — including Senator Hilliard and Senator Cornaby — called for changes to ensure plaintiffs are not forced to litigate out of state and to preserve reasonable access to redress. Cornaby warned the bill would "guarantee" plaintiffs will be forced to take actions in the manufacturer’s state rather than Utah, raising costs and discouraging suits. Hilliard asked whether the bill’s language preserved a Utah plaintiff’s ability to sue in Utah when appropriate.
Floor amendments were adopted to address two central concerns raised in questions: explicitly tying service and process standards to Utah law and adding a tolling provision that would preserve a plaintiff’s statute of limitations while the court determines whether a manufacturer is subject to Utah process. Those amendments insert the word "Utah" into the service/process clause and provide that the statute of limitations for claims against a product seller is tolled while a claim against the manufacturer is pending if the manufacturer is later determined not to be subject to Utah service.
After amendments and extended debate — including repeated floor exchanges about whether the measure favored manufacturers over plaintiffs — the Senate recorded 18 ayes, 6 nays and 5 absent and moved the bill to the next stage. Sponsors said the changes align Utah with statutes adopted in other states and that they expect the amendments to protect local sellers while preserving plaintiff access when a manufacturer cannot be served under Utah law.
