Calles v. Scripto-Tokai Corp.

This case presents a straightforward question concerning the reach of tort law. When the defendant designed a product intended to create a flame, it did not incorporate available inexpensive technology to make the product child-resistant. A child got hold of the product and started a fire that led to her sister’s death. Should the court consider the design defective because it lacked child-resistant features? We find the evidence in the record sufficient to pose a factual question of whether the design is defective.

BACKGROUND

Susan Calles purchased an Aim ’n Flame lighting rod in March 1998.…