Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Superior Court Addresses Post-Tincher Products Liability Issues (Non-Precedential)

In its recent decision in the case of Martinez v. American Honda Motor, No. 445 EDA 2015 (Pa. Super. April 19, 2017 Bender, P.J.E., Dubow, J., Musmanno, J.)(mem. op. by Dubow, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a Plaintiff’s verdict against Honda Motors in a case that addresses the current status of the Pennsylvania products liability law in the Post-Tincher era.   

Unfortunately, the decision in this unchartered area of strict products liability law is inexplicably listed as "non-precedential."  

One of the issues addressed by the Superior Court was whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s holding in Tincher overruled long-standing precedential decisions which barred evidence of compliance with federal and regulatory standards in products liability cases.   The court in this case of Martinez ruled that the Tincher decision did not overrule prior cases in this regard.  As such, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s decision that such proposed evidence was inadmissible.  

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this non-precedential decision may click this LINK.


I send thanks to Attorney Paul Oven of the Moosic, Pennsylvania law firm of Dougherty, Leventhal & Price, as well as Attorney Bruce Zero of the Scranton, Pennsylvania office of Powell Law, for bringing this case to my attention. 

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