Defective products made or sold in Texas can cause injuries and even death. Product liability law is based on the assumption that those making and selling these products have a duty to protect the consumer. Generally, the product ought to meet the ordinary expectations of a person who uses it. When an unexpected defect or risk harms the consumer, then the law may require the manufacturer or seller of the product to compensate the consumer.
There are, however, qualifications to seller’s product liability. The seller is not necessarily liable for defects in the product; after all, it may be unreasonable to hold the non-manufacturing seller liable for mistakes made by someone else during the item’s design or manufacture.
A Texas statute governs how different parties are liable for unsafe products. Manufacturers bear ultimate responsibility for the safety of their products. However, a seller that negligently modifies the product or makes it unsafe through intentional misconduct can be independently liable for harm in any product liability action brought against it.
You can bring a product liability suit against a seller if it participated in designing the dangerous product. The seller is also liable if the product required installation and the seller installed it for you, if the harm results from the installation.
Product liability of the seller extends to warning signs and labels about the product. The seller may have to indemnify you if it exercised substantial control on content that went on a warning label. If the label was inaccurate, and you relied on it and were injured as a result then you may be entitled to compensation from the seller.