Genie Industries, Inc. v. Ricky Matak, Belinda Matak and Misty Sonnier, as Representative of the Estate of Walter Pete Logan Matak

in which Justice Green, Justice Johnson, Justice Willett, Justice Guzman, and Justice Brown joined.

A product manufacturer is not liable for a design defect unless a safer alternative design exists and the defect renders the product unreasonably dangerous — that is, its risks outweigh its utility.1 The issue is usually one of fact for the jury but may nevertheless be a legal one when the evidence is such that reasonable minds cannot differ on the risk-utility balancing considerations.2

In this case, the users of an aerial lift supporting a worker 40’ in the air attempted to move the machine.…