Law for Business 12th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 9

On October 10, 1985, Zachary Griggs, then 11 months old, sustained serious injuries in a fire at his Pennsylvania home that his three-year-old stepbrother, Kenneth Hempstead, ignited with a disposable butane lighter manufactured by BIC Corporation. Kenneth removed the lighter from his stepfather's pants pocket in the early hours of the morning and set fire with it to Zachary's bedding while the rest of the household slept. Two incidents within six months preceded this fire, in which Kenneth attempted to light either matches or a lighter, of which his parents were aware and for which they disciplined Kenneth. Prior to Zachary's injuries, his mother had seen warnings that BIC placed on the packaging of its lighters to keep them away from children. She was also independently aware that lighters should be kept out of the reach of children. Timothy and Catherine Griggs, as parents and guardians of Zachary, sued BIC alleging that its failure to manufacture a childproof lighter constituted both defective and negligent design. Is BIC potentially liable to the Griggses for failure to manufacture a childproof lighter?