Section 15.47 Elements of the Plaintiff’s Case

• Library: Tort Law 2016

B. (§15.47) Elements of the Plaintiff’s Case

As with any negligence case, the plaintiff must prove:

· a duty owed by the manufacturer, distributor, or seller to the plaintiff;

· a breach of that duty;

· damage to the plaintiff; and

· proximate cause between the breach of duty and the plaintiff’s damage.

See:

· Virginia D. v. Medesco Inv. Corp., 648 S.W.2d 881, 886 (Mo. banc 1983)

· Morrison v. Kubota Tractor Corp., 891 S.W.2d 422 (Mo. App. W.D. 1994)

· RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 281 (1965)

The manufacturer’s duty is one of ordinary care in the design, construction, and assembly of its product. Stevens v. Durbin-Durco, Inc., 377 S.W.2d 343, 346 (Mo. 1964). That general duty is set forth in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 395 (1965):

A manufacturer who fails to exercise reasonable care in the manufacture of a chattel which, unless carefully made, he should recognize as involving an unreasonable risk of causing physical harm to those...