Bill > S145

This bill aims to establish nonmanufacturing seller liability in products liability actions. The key provisions include: 1. A manufacturer shall indemnify and hold harmless a seller against loss arising out of a products liability action, except for any loss caused by the seller's own negligence, intentional misconduct, or other act or omission. 2. A seller that did not manufacture a product is not liable for harm caused by that product unless specific conditions are met, such as the seller participated in the design, altered the product, installed the product, exercised substantial control over the product's warning or instruction, made an incorrect express factual representation about the product, or the manufacturer is insolvent or not subject to the court's jurisdiction. 3. Manufacturers and sellers are not liable for inherently unsafe products that are known to be unsafe by the ordinary consumer, such as sugar, alcohol, or tobacco. 4. In design defect cases, the burden is on the claimant to prove that a safer alternative design was available and that the defect was a producing cause of the injury or damage. 5. There are rebuttable presumptions of non-liability for manufacturers and sellers if the product complied with mandatory federal safety standards or was subject to pre-market approval by a federal agency, unless the standards or approval process was inadequate or the manufacturer withheld or misrepresented relevant information.

Labor and Employment

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/S145