Amazon has argued before the Texas Supreme Court that it should not bear liability for defective products sold through its site. According to a news report, the case currently before the Texas Supreme Court involves a 19-month-old toddler who suffered permanent damage to her esophagus when she ingested a lithium-ion batter that popped out of a remote control.
For several years now, Amazon has claimed it is not liable in such product liability cases because it functions as a middleman for sales made through its Marketplace platform. However, over the years, numerous customers who bought defective products from third-party vendors on the site have experienced injuries, such as one woman blinded by a defective dog leash and another burned by a laptop battery.
Amazon’s ‘Middleman’ Defense
The toddler’s mother in the Texas case bought a knockoff Apple TV remote from a third-party vendor on Amazon. After the battery burned her daughter, she sought to find out who was behind the Amazon storefront. She discovered that the company operating the Amazon storefront was based in Shenzhen, China. Neither Amazon nor the mother have been able to locate that company.
Lawyers for the child’s mother have argued that Amazon is liable for the defective product and should remove it since the site serves the same function as a brick-and-mortar retail store. Physical stores typically face liability for injuries caused by defective products if they fail to prevent consumers from handling those items.
While courts have previously ruled that online marketplaces are not subject to the same rules since they don’t exercise the same level of control, that may be changing now. Amazon’s defense of being a “middleman” in product liability cases is beginning to appear increasingly flimsy. A California appellate court ruled last year that the company could be held liable in such cases and the state’s supreme court declined to review it, essentially upholding that ruling.
The Issue of Accountability
We are pleased to see that courts acknowledge the inadequacy of Amazon’s defense, asserting that it bears no responsibility for the defective products sold in its online marketplace that have seriously injured consumers. Please get in touch with an experienced product liability lawyer if you or a loved one has sustained injuries due to products purchased on Amazon to learn more about your rights. You may be able to seek compensation for damages, including medical expenses, lost income, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and pain and suffering.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/amazon-argues-its-not-liable-for-product-that-severely-injured-toddler/
