Question

Brianne Kriefall died after ingesting E-Coli bacteria by eating at a Sizzler Restaurant. Sizzler’s meat supplier discovered that several of its shipments of meat to Sizzler and other restaurants contained the E-Coli bacteria.
Which of the following is correct?

a. Brianne’s estate and family can recover for wrongful death under a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability.
b. Brianne’s estate and family can recover for wrongful death under a strict tort liability theory.
c. Brianne’s estate and family can recover for wrongful death from both Sizzler and its supplier.
d. All of the above are correct.

Answer 1

Answer:

d. All of the above are correct.

Explanation:

Implied warranty of merchantibility states that some products or goods are already "implied" to be in an expected state regardless of whether the information is provided or not. Here, it is already expected that the restaurant should serve meat free from bacterial contamination because it would harm the consumers. Since it did not take care of the implied meat quality standard,  Brianne’s estate and family can recover for wrongful death under a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability.

Wrongful death claim is made when the death occurred due to the negligence of a party. Even though it did not intentionally commit the crime, its carelessness caused harm to other party. Here, negligence of food quality and safety by the restaurant and the supplier caused Brianne's death so Brianne’s estate and family can also recover for wrongful death from both Sizzler and its supplier.

Wrongful death under strict tort liability mentions that a claim can be made by deceased family's if the cause of death was a dangerous activity or product defect by other party. Since Brianne's death was caused by bad quality product, Brianne’s estate and family can recover for wrongful death under a strict tort liability theory.

Hence, all the given options are correct.