FAILURE TO WARN CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE PROPERLY SURVIVED SUMMARY JUDGMENT, PLAINTIFF’S CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE WHEN SHE STOOD NEAR A PROPANE HEATER, QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE WARNING WAS ADEQUATE AND WHETHER FAILURE TO WARN WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the “failure to warn” cause of action in this products liability case was properly denied. Plaintiff’s clothing caught fire when she stood near a propane heater manufactured and sold by defendants:
Plaintiff submitted the pertinent ANSI standard for warning labels on unvented propane heaters, which specifies certain language to be used in such warnings and establishes minimum heights for the warning’s lettering and a minimum distance at which the warnings must be legible. Plaintiff further submitted photographs of the warning label on an exemplar heater matching the one at issue here, supported by an affidavit from the professional photographer who took the pictures…. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted in his affirmation that these letter heights are significantly smaller than the ANSI standard’s minimum requirements and are therefore too small and inconspicuous to comply with that standard or to constitute an adequate warning label. * * *
… .[P]laintiff’s testimony that she did not look at the heater immediately before the accident does not establish as a matter of law that she would not have seen and read sufficiently conspicuous warnings on prior occasions and heeded them at the time of the accident. Palmatier v Mr. Heater Corp., 2018 NY Slip Op 05238, Third Dept 7-12-18
PRODUCTS LIABILITY (FAILURE TO WARN CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE PROPERLY SURVIVED SUMMARY JUDGMENT, PLAINTIFF’S CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE WHEN SHE STOOD NEAR A PROPANE HEATER, QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE WARNING WAS ADEQUATE AND WHETHER FAILURE TO WARN WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE (THIRD DEPT))/FAILURE TO WARN (PRODUCTS LIABILITY, FAILURE TO WARN CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE PROPERLY SURVIVED SUMMARY JUDGMENT, PLAINTIFF’S CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE WHEN SHE STOOD NEAR A PROPANE HEATER, QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE WARNING WAS ADEQUATE AND WHETHER FAILURE TO WARN WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE (THIRD DEPT))/PROPANE HEATER (PRODUCTS LIABILITY, FAILURE TO WARN CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE PROPERLY SURVIVED SUMMARY JUDGMENT, PLAINTIFF’S CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE WHEN SHE STOOD NEAR A PROPANE HEATER, QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE WARNING WAS ADEQUATE AND WHETHER FAILURE TO WARN WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE (THIRD DEPT))
