Justia Products Liability Opinion Summaries

In this case, John Edward Griffith II and Christina M. Griffith sued LG Chem America, Inc., and Shoemaker’s Truck Station, Inc., after lithium-ion rechargeable batteries purchased at a Shoemaker's Truck Station store in Nebraska exploded in Mr. Griffith's pocket in Pennsylvania, causing him serious burns and permanent injuries.The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision that Nebraska lacked personal jurisdiction over LG Chem America, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Atlanta, Georgia. The court found that LG Chem America had no substantial connection to Nebraska related to the case. The company's activities in Nebraska, which included renting warehouse space for the storage of petrochemical products and selling those products to two customers in the state, were unrelated to the sale and distribution of the lithium-ion batteries at issue in the case.The court also affirmed the lower court's decision to apply Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations to the Griffiths' negligence and loss of consortium claims, given that the injury occurred in Pennsylvania. The court found that Pennsylvania had a more significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties than Nebraska, where the batteries were purchased. As a result, the Griffiths' claims, filed more than two years after the injury, were time-barred under Pennsylvania law. View "Griffith v. LG Chem America" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the the district court's grant of summary judgment against the owner of a premanufactured grain bin that collapsed and dismissal of other claims, holding that there was no merit to any of the owner's assigned errors.The owner of the grain bin filed this lawsuit seeking damages from multiple defendants involved in designing, manufacturing, and constructing the grain storage facility, alleging various claims. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court correctly applied the correct statutes of repose to the owner's various claims. View "Ag Valley Co-operative v. Servinsky Engineering, PLLC" on Justia Law