PRODUCTS LIABILITY IN MARITIME LAW: A COURT'S REFUSAL TO IMPOSE LIABILITY ON A MANUFACTURER FOR FAILURE TO WARN OF POST-SALE DEFECTS WHERE THE INJURY SUFFERED WAS PURELY ECONOMIC

摘要

As a general rule, tort claims for post-sale negligence against manufacturers, such as failure to warn of known defects, are barred when the injury caused is purely economic. The United States Supreme Court extended the purely-economic loss rule into the context of maritime law in East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval, Inc., holding that "a manufacturer in a commercial relationship has no duty under either negligence or strict products-liability theory to prevent a product from injuring itself." Despite this apparently broad holding, lower courts across the country are split regarding the existence of an exception to the East River doctrine for a manufacturer's failure to warn of post-sale defects.