Robinson v. McNeil Consumer Healthcare

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

Karen Robinson and her husband (suing for loss of consortium) brought a products liability suit against McNeil Consumer Healthcare in an Illinois state court. The case was removed to a federal district court in Illinois under the diversity jurisdiction. McNeil’s parent, Johnson & Johnson, was a defendant in the district court, but the jury found in its favor and the appellants do not challenge the finding, so it is out of the case.

The district judge ruled that Virginia law governed the substantive issues in the case. That law both rejects strict liability as a basis for…