Ohio Supreme Court Upholds 2005 Product Liability Law

By Sophia Brink

Published on February 22, 2008

The law in question, S.B. 80, took effect April 2005. It states that a consumer who is injured by a product cannot sue its manufacturer if the product was received by the consumer more than 10 years before the injury occurred.

Justice Paul Pfeifer was the sole dissenter in the court's decision. He said that the ruling essentially secured the interests of manufacturers while failing to protect consumer rights.

The lawsuit at the center of the court's ruling involves Douglas Groch, who claims he suffered nerve and muscle damage in March 2005 when the trim press he was operating at a GM plant in Toledo crushed his right arm and wrist.

Because the trim press was over 30 years old, the product's manufacturer claimed that the company could not be sued due to S.B. 80. However, since Groch injured himself 34 days before the law came into effect, the high court decided that the law could not be applied in his case. As a result, Groch will be allowed to continue with his lawsuit, which names the trim press manufacturer and GM as defendants.

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