Manufacturers’ Post-Market Duty Clarified in Linert v. Ford Motor

On December 29, the Supreme Court of Ohio released its decision in the case, Linert v. Ford Motor Company, ruling in favor of Ford and reversing the Ohio 12^th District Court of Appeals (Middletown).  The OMA together with other state and national groups filed an amicus brief in support of Ford.  In the lengthy decision authored by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, the court held that the trial court properly refused to instruct the jury on the manufacturer’s post-market duty to warn the consumer.

Justices O’Donnell, Lanzinger, Kennedy and French concurred; Justices Pfeifer and O’Neill dissented.

“The case addressed a manufacturer’s post-market duty to warn consumers of product defects that come to the manufacturer’s attention post-sale.  The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the duty did not apply in the factual setting of the Linert case and that the trial court was correct in not instructing the jury on the issue.  The decision is welcome news for Ford, and also creates a helpful law on the issue in Ohio,” commented attorney Chad Readler, Partner, Jones Day, who co-authored OMA’s amicus brief.  1/5/2017