Quote:
Originally posted by uclajd
You guys did the right thing to fix this, no question. But you should check your product liability, negligence, warranty, and misrepresentation law (in every state) before you say this. A retailer doesn't necessarily get blanket immunity for selling a product - which he never bothers to test in-house - which turns out to be defective. Everyone (manufacturer, distributor, retailer) along the stream of commerce can be liable (strictly liable, in some cases, if there is personal injury) in products liability cases. Most specifically, I think you should check misrepresentation and warranty law under the UCC. Innocent (i.e., negligent) misrepresentations are still actionable.
You did the right thing ethically and PR-wise. But there is also a legal component to this. If you were sued, you can't just point to the manufacturer as a defense. The law doesn't work that way. Yes, there is (according to you, which we have no reason not to believe) no fraud on your part, but there are other causes of action in selling defective products, even without actual knowledge that they were defective.
BTW, IAAL. You might want to hire one, based on your (apparent) misunderstanding of the law, for future reference.
I'm not trying to flame here. But I teach business law, and when I see a gross misstatement of the law, I just have to respond.
Notice: The above message does not constitute legal advice, not practical, theoretical, or hypothetical. The author is not recommending a course of action or inaction. The author is not your lawyer. If he were your lawyer, you would have signed a "retainer agreement," which you did not, and you would have paid the author a large retainer fee, which you did not. The above message was merely a layman's discussion of general legal concepts of a personal, private nature for the sole purpose of conversation and commentary on current events, real or fictional.
So.. if I were to outsource manufacture of my invention/whatever to a company and they made a sub-par product without my knowledge I could be held responsible for their stupidity?