Michalko v. Cooke Color & Chemical Corp.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This case presents the question whether an independent contractor that rebuilds part of a machine according to the specifications of the owner can be held strictly liable for injuries sustained by a foreseeable user of the machine when the contractor failed to make the machine safe or to warn of the dangers inherent in its use. The courts below found that such a contractor could not be held strictly liable. We now reverse.

I

Since 1972, plaintiff Eleanor J. Michalko worked as a “molder” for Elastimold in Hackettstown, making airport lighting…