Products Liability Law Reporter

A federal district court held that a woman who was injured while using a NutriBullet blender at her home in New Zealand may bring a lawsuit in California against the companies that designed, distributed, and sold the product.

Elizabeth Flack suffered severe hand lacerations when her NutriBullet canister separated from its blade assembly. She sued several California companies, alleging strict liability, breach of warranty, negligence, and unfair competition. The defendants moved to dismiss under the forum non conveniens doctrine.

Denying the motion, the district court found that the defendant has the burden of showing the existence of an adequate alternative forum and that private and public interests favor dismissal. The private factors include the residences of the parties’ witnesses, the forum’s convenience to the parties, access to the physical evidence, whether witnesses can be compelled to testify, the cost of bringing witnesses to trial, the enforceability of the judgment, and other practical concerns. Public interest factors include local interest in the lawsuit, the court’s familiarity with applicable law, the burden on the courts, and the cost of resolving the dispute.

The court concluded that the defendants have entered an appearance and consented to personal jurisdiction in New Zealand. Moreover, the court noted that the plaintiff could receive an adequate remedy in New Zealand. The court nevertheless found that public interest factors, such as California’s significant and identifiable interest in deciding actions against resident corporations whose conduct injures people in other jurisdictions, warrants rejecting the defendants’ motion. The defendants are all California companies whose principal place of business is in the state, the court said. Additionally, the plaintiff’s claims center around conduct that allegedly occurred in the state, and the defense has not disputed that the alleged wrongful conduct has ties to California. Acknowledging that the NutriBullet was manufactured in China, the court found that some of the defendants’ alleged wrongful actions took place in California, including the product’s design.

Consequently, the court declined to dismiss the plaintiff’s suit based on forum non conveniens.

Citation: Flack v. Nutribullet, L.L.C., 2018 WL 6330421 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 4, 2018).