A consumer purchased a grass trimmer from a hardware store. He took it out of the sealed box and assembled it according to the i
nstructions. He noticed that there were bolts and screws left over and some joints that could have accepted additional fasteners, but he just disposed of the extra hardware. As he was using the trimmer, the housing came apart and a hard piece of plastic flew off. His neighbor, who was standing nearby, was struck in the eye by the piece of plastic and suffered permanent injuries. The neighbor sued the hardware store and the manufacturer of the trimmer in a strict liability action. Through discovery, it was determined that the instructions omitted a critical step in the assembly process that would have used the extra hardware, which is why the housing came apart, and that the manufacturer had received some complaints about the instructions previously. The hardware store had no knowledge of any complaints regarding any of the manufacturer's products. As to the hardware store, the neighbor will:
As to the hardware store, the neighbor will recover because the consumer's failure to recognize the improper assembly doesn't cut off the stores liability.
<h3>What is hardware?</h3>
It should be noted that hardware means the tangible computer components that run the written instructions.
In this case, as to the hardware store, the neighbor will recover because the consumer's failure to recognize the improper assembly doesn't cut off the stores liability.
