Phillip Burgess v. Montgomery Ward and Company, Inc.

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

The question in this diversity action is whether a retail vendor of a chattel manufactured by another is liable for injuries to a borrower of the chattel from the purchaser when such injuries result from the failure of the chattel because of a latent defect.

Appellee-defendant, Montgomery Ward and Company, Inc., at its Kansas City, Kansas, retail store sold to one Verbanie a 16-foot extension ladder manufactured by Pat Johnson Mfg. Co. Without having used the ladder in an extended position, Verbanie loaned it to his neighbor, appellant-plaintiff Burgess, who used it…