23.1 Overview of Strict Products Liability Law in Arizona

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

23.1 Overview of Strict Products Liability Law in Arizona. Arizona courts have long embraced the doctrine of strict products liability set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965) (“§ 402A” or “Section 402A”). Section 402A provides that:

One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if (a) the seller is engaged in the business of selling a product, and (b) it is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold.

The Restatement and Arizona courts hold manufacturers and sellers of defective and unreasonably dangerous products liable for injuries those products cause to consumers or users of the product.¹ Arizona courts have emphasized that:

Strict liability is a public policy device to spread the risk from one to whom a defective product may be a catastrophe, to those who marketed the product, profit from its sale, and have the know-how to remove its defects before placing it in the chain of distribution.²

Strict liability is not about fault but, rather, the social policy of shifting the risk of loss. As explained by the court of appeals in Caruth v. Mariani :³

[Strict tort liability] resolves itself to a balancing of interests. Who should bear the loss? The injured member of the public or those persons who are in the chain of placing defective goods on the market? We choose to protect the member of the public since those involved in the chain of marketing can distribute the risk between themselves by means of insurance and indemnity agreements. They should be better equipped economically to do so than some innocent member of the public.⁴

Consistent with this public policy of shifting the risk of loss from the victims of defective products to those who profit from their sales and are in a position to eliminate the defect or incorporate such risks into the cost of doing business, Arizona courts have expansively interpreted § 402A to include both new and used products.⁵ Arizona courts have also found the public policies underlying application of § 402A to support imposition of strict liability against a variety of entities that formed part of the enterprise moving defective products through the chain of distribution, including lessors, dealers in used goods, retailers, distributors, trademark...