Products Liability Law Reporter

A federal district court held that the manufacturers and distributors of a hatchet may be liable to a consumer who was injured while taking the newly purchased hatchet out of its clamshell packaging.

Brey Rasco purchased a SCAXE10 hatchet from a store in Knoxville, Tenn. The hatchet came inside clamshell packaging, necessitating that Rasco cut the packaging open. While pulling the tool out of the packaging, Rasco suffered a deep, bone-exposing wound to his arm. He and his wife sued manufacturers and distributors BTI Tools, LLC; AOB Products Co.; and American Outdoor Brands, Inc., alleging claims for products liability. The plaintiffs asserted that the hatchet’s packaging should have contained some type of labeling and instructions on how to open it. Suit also claimed that the hatchet blade should have had an additional covering. The defendants moved for summary judgment.

Denying the motion, the district court found that under the Tennessee Products Liability Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §29-28-101, to establish a prima facie products liability claim, a plaintiff must show the product was defective and/or unreasonably dangerous, the defect existed at the time the product left the manufacturer’s control, and the plaintiff’s injury was proximately caused by the defective product.

Here, the court reasoned, the plaintiffs identified specifics in the hatchet’s packaging, including that it was difficult to open, contained an unprotected hatchet blade, and lacked instructions on how to open it safely. The plaintiffs also proffered evidence of feasible alternative designs, which raises a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether the packaging was defective.

The court also found that the plaintiffs had raised a genuine issue of material fact on whether the packaging was unreasonably dangerous. The plaintiffs’ testimony suggested an issue on whether an ordinary consumer would have expected additional protective covering on the sealed hatchet, the court said, adding that the plaintiffs’ expert testimony also suggested that the packaging fell below an ordinary consumer’s minimum safety expectations.

Consequently, dismissal was not warranted.

Citation: Rasco v. BTI Tools, LLC, 2024 WL 4230293 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 17, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: Denise S. Terry, AAJ member Gabriel C. Stapleton, and Tracey Dillon Parker, all of Morristown, Tenn.