Amstadt v. United States Brass Corp.

in which PHILLIPS, Chief Justice, and HECHT, ENOCH, BAKER and ABBOTT, Justices, join.

In these three cases, homeowners have sued the manufacturers of a polybutylene plumbing system for negligence and violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. Tex.Bus. & Com.Code *647§§ 17.41-17.68 (DTPA). The common issue is whether the Legislature intended that upstream suppliers of raw materials and component parts be liable under the DTPA when none of their misrepresentations reached the consumers. This precise issue, which to our knowledge has never before been raised in the…