Products Liability Law Reporter

A federal district court held that the economic loss doctrine precluded an automobile insurer’s manufacturing defect claim against a tire company under the Mississippi Products Liability Act (MPLA), Miss. Code Ann. §11-1-63 et seq.

Malcolm Huston was driving an RV with his vehicle in tow. Suddenly, the Goodyear tire on the RV’s front passenger side suffered a catastrophic failure, which caused the RV to leave the roadway and collide with a tree. Huston later submitted a claim to insurer Progressive Country Mutual Insurance Co., which paid over $226,400 on the claim. Progressive, as Huston’s subrogee, sued Goodyear, alleging manufacturing defect and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability. Goodyear moved for summary judgment.

Granting the motion, the district court found that under the MPLA and applicable case law, a plaintiff who suffers only economic loss resulting from a defective product is not entitled to recover in strict liability or negligence but may seek redress under a breach of warranty theory. Thus, the court held, the insurer’s manufacturing defect claims are barred under the economic loss doctrine.

The court also concluded that the insurer’s claim for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability was precluded here. The court cited a Mississippi high court case holding that where a car had been driven over two years before the plaintiff experienced any difficulty with it, any claim for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability was negated as a matter of law. Applying this holding here, the court reasoned that the Goodyear tire was over four years old, had been driven more than 28,900 miles, and had been in service just over three years. Accordingly, the court found that the breach of warranty claim failed as a matter of law.

Citation: Progressive Country Mut. Ins. Co. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 2021 WL 3371108 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 2, 2021).