A customer buys a space heater from your store, it catches fire and the lawsuit names your business next to the manufacturer. You never designed or built the heater, so this can feel unfair. Texas law often agrees, but its protection has limits.
Texas law generally protects retailers from product liability
Texas generally shields businesses from injury claims involving goods produced by someone else.This protection, found in the Texas product liability statute, covers retailers, wholesalers and distributors. It applies to negligence, warranty and strict liability claims, with strict liability meaning responsibility for a defect without proof of carelessness. The injured person must prove that an exception applies, and separate rules can govern some vehicle dealers.
Product changes can make retailers responsible for injuries
The first exceptions involve what you do to a product, such as helping design it. You can also lose protection if you modified it or installed it onto another product and that work caused the injury. A dealer that mounts a lift kit on a truck or shortens a ladder for a buyer may fall within this exception.
False product claims and poor warnings can create liability
What you say can matter as much as what you do. If you tell a buyer a ladder holds 400 pounds and it does not, you may be liable if the buyer relies on it and gets hurt because it was wrong. Liability can also arise if you controlled warnings or instructions that proved inadequate. These connections are often key when defending product defect claims.
Selling a product with a known defect can lead to liability
Protection also ends if you actually knew about a defect when you sold the product and that defect caused the injury. The test is real knowledge rather than what you should have known, but an ignored recall notice or repeated complaints can become evidence that you knew.
An unavailable manufacturer can affect retailer liability
Sometimes your exposure depends on the manufacturer, not you. If the manufacturer is insolvent or beyond the reach of Texas courts, as with some overseas brands, the injured person may pursue you instead. When a nonresident manufacturer ignores papers served through the Texas secretary of state, a court may presume it is out of reach unless you prove otherwise.
Good records can help retailers defend product claims
Texas generally protects you from liability for products you did not make. But that protection depends on how you handle products, what you tell buyers, what you know and who supplied the item. Clear records of suppliers, product changes, sales statements and safety notices can show where you stand. Reviewing those practices with a litigation attorney can help you respond quickly if a lawsuit names your company.