Third Circuit Court of Appeals Predicts That Pennsylvania Supreme Court Will Effectively Eliminate Strict Liability in Defective Design and Inadequate Warning Cases

As the tort bar waits for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling in Bugosh v. I.U. North America Inc. to answer the court’s question of whether it should apply Section 2 of the Restatement (Third) of Torts in place of Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has weighed in on the issue.

On April 21, the Third Circuit predicted in Berrier v. Simplicity Manufacturing Inc. that the state Supreme Court would adopt Sections 1 and 2 of the Restatement (Third) of Torts, resulting in the application of negligence concepts to strict liability claims. In essence, the Third Circuit decision replaces Azzarello v. Black Brothers Co., 391 A.2d 1020 (Pa. 1978), which held that strict liability claims in Pennsylvania were controlled by Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, with the more updated Restatement (Third).

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