Law for Business 10th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 8

Shortly after Steven Klein was married and moved into a new home, he went to a local Sears store to consult with a salesman about the purchase of a riding lawn mower. He explained to the salesman that he had no experience with lawn mowers and that the property on which the mower was to be used was a ¾-acre tract containing numerous hills. The salesman recommended a Sears Craftsman 8-horsepower, electric-start, rear-engine mower with a 30-inch cutting deck. The sale, however, was conditional on an inspection of Klein's property, to be conducted at the time of delivery of the mower. A few days later, the Sears salesman delivered the mower to Klein's residence, inspected the property, and pronounced the mower suitable for mowing the property. He did warn Klein that the mower should be driven vertically up and down the hills.
Klein used the mower without incident for about a year. However, one day when he was mowing vertically up a 19-degree slope, the mower tipped over backward and his hand was severely injured when it came in contact with the rotating blades. He suffered an 80 percent impairment of his right arm and hand and was unable to continue his employment as a jeweler. He brought suit against Sears to recover his injuries, claiming, among other things, breach of warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Sears argued, among other things, that the owner's manual stated that the mower should not be used on a slope in excess of 15 degrees and thus that Klein's injury was due to improper operation, not breach of warranty. Was Sears liable for breach of the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose?