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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY BAKER, BRUBAKER, EARLL, EICHELBERGER, FOLMER, PICCOLA, SMUCKER, WAUGH, D. WHITE AND M. WHITE, FEBRUARY 3, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 3, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the |
2 | Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in particular rights and |
3 | immunities, providing for liability rules applicable to |
4 | product sellers. |
5 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
6 | hereby enacts as follows: |
7 | Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated |
8 | Statutes is amended by adding a section to read: |
9 | § 8320.1. Liability rules applicable to product sellers. |
10 | (a) General rule.--In a product liability action, a product |
11 | seller other than a manufacturer shall not be liable for damages |
12 | resulting in death, injury to person or property or economic |
13 | loss unless the plaintiff establishes at least one of the |
14 | following: |
15 | (1) (i) The product which allegedly caused the harm |
16 | complained of by the plaintiff was sold by the product |
17 | seller, the product seller failed to exercise reasonable |
18 | care with respect to the product before placing the |
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1 | product in the stream of commerce and the failure to |
2 | exercise reasonable care was a proximate cause of the |
3 | harm complained of by the plaintiff. |
4 | (ii) For purposes of this paragraph, a product |
5 | seller shall not be considered to have failed to exercise |
6 | reasonable care with respect to the product based upon an |
7 | alleged failure to inspect a product where there was no |
8 | reasonable opportunity to inspect the product in a manner |
9 | which, in the exercise of reasonable care, would have |
10 | revealed the aspect of the product which allegedly caused |
11 | the harm complained of by the plaintiff. |
12 | (2) The product seller made an express warranty |
13 | applicable to the product which allegedly caused the harm |
14 | complained of by the plaintiff independent of an express |
15 | warranty made by a manufacturer as to the same product, the |
16 | product failed to conform to the seller's express warranty |
17 | and the failure of the product to conform to the seller's |
18 | express warranty caused the harm complained of by the |
19 | plaintiff. |
20 | (3) The product seller, before placing the product in |
21 | the stream of commerce, exercised significant control over |
22 | the design, manufacture, packaging or labeling of the product |
23 | related to the alleged defect in the product which caused the |
24 | harm complained of by the plaintiff. |
25 | (4) The product seller, before placing the product in |
26 | the stream of commerce, knew or reasonably should have known |
27 | of the defect in the product which caused the harm complained |
28 | of by the plaintiff or the product seller was in possession |
29 | of facts from which a reasonable person would conclude that |
30 | the product seller had or should have had knowledge of the |
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1 | alleged defect in the product which caused the harm |
2 | complained of by the plaintiff. |
3 | (5) The product seller engaged in intentional wrongdoing |
4 | which was a proximate cause of the harm complained of by the |
5 | plaintiff. |
6 | (6) The product seller, before placing the product in |
7 | the stream of commerce, held itself out as the manufacturer |
8 | to the user of the product, in which case the product seller |
9 | shall be liable as though the product seller were the |
10 | manufacturer of the product. |
11 | (b) Rental and leases.--Notwithstanding any other provision |
12 | of law, a product seller who is engaged in the business of |
13 | renting or leasing a product shall be subject to liability |
14 | pursuant to subsection (a) but shall not be liable to a |
15 | plaintiff for the tortious act of another solely by reason of |
16 | ownership of the product. |
17 | (c) Certification of manufacturer identity.-- |
18 | (1) In a product liability action against a product |
19 | seller, the product seller may file an affidavit certifying |
20 | the correct identity of the manufacturer of the product which |
21 | allegedly caused the injury, death or damage. |
22 | (2) The product seller shall exercise due diligence in |
23 | providing the plaintiff with the correct identity of the |
24 | manufacturer. |
25 | (d) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following |
26 | words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this |
27 | subsection: |
28 | "Manufacturer." A person who: |
29 | (1) Produced, created, made or constructed the product |
30 | or component part of the product. |
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1 | (2) Designed or formulated the product or component part |
2 | of the product or engaged another person to design or |
3 | formulate the product or component part of the product. |
4 | "Product seller." A person who, in the course of a business |
5 | conducted for that purpose, sells, distributes, rents, leases, |
6 | prepares, packages, labels or otherwise is involved in placing a |
7 | product in the stream of commerce. |
8 | Section 2. This act shall apply to all actions instituted on |
9 | or after the effective date of this section. |
10 | Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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