For Halloween
Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson (U.S App. 1992)
OVERVIEW: The wife used the company's cotton batting to make her husband a sheep costume for Halloween. While wearing the costume at a party, the husband tried to light a cigarette. His costume caught fire and engulfed him in flames in seconds. The cotton batting was sold in a box that noted it was intended to be used to clean wounds, apply medication, and for infant care. Plaintiffs argued that the company breached its duty to warn. The jury found plaintiffs and the company equally liable, and awarded plaintiffs money damages. The court granted the company's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Affirming, the court held that plaintiffs had not proved that the company's alleged failure to warn was a proximate cause of their injuries because they presented no evidence to show that a warning would have dissuaded them from using the cotton batting to make the costume. Plaintiffs admitted they knew that cotton batting was flammable, and the husband admitted he regularly ignored warnings on his cigarette packages.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiffs, a husband and wife, won a jury verdict in their product liability suit against defendant company for failing to warn about the flammability of its cotton batting. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted the company's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or, in the alternative, a new trial. Plaintiffs appealed.