The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Wednesday that Home Depot sold over 2,300 products that had been recalled due to safety concerns from 2012 to 2015. The products included fluorescent shop lights, step stools, shears, garage door openers, welding torches, blower vacuums, fire extinguishers, power strips, and kitchen ranges. The dangers caused by these defective products include fire, fall, cut, electrical shock, and burn hazards, all of which can lead to serious injury or even death.
In Louisiana, consumers that are injured by defective products must seek damages through the Louisiana Products Liability Act (“LPLA”). Under the LPLA, in order for someone to recover from a manufacturer, they must prove that their harm was caused by a condition of the manufacturer’s product, that the condition existed at the time the product left its manufacturer’s control, and that the condition made the product unreasonably dangerous for normal use.
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Home Depot would not normally be covered under these requirements since they are not manufacturers of most of the products they sell. However, that does not mean that they cannot be held liable. Under Louisiana law, a retailer can still be held liable under an ordinary standard of negligence. That is, someone hurt by a product Home Depot sells would have to prove that Home Depot knew or should have known that the product sold was defective. Furthermore, companies have an additional legal obligation to report if they are selling or have sold items that could present a risk or hazard to customers. While the announcement does not state whether Home Depot actually knew that the products were under recall, there is no doubt that they should have known of the recalls.
It is well known that many of the products sold by Home Depot require safety precautions by nature. But when the company fails to safeguard the consumer against a product that it knows or should know are even more dangerous due to a recall, they should certainly be held accountable. A large corporation such as Home Depot should have systems in place to ensure that mistakes like this are not made. Failing to do so, as they seem to have done here, is nothing but gross negligence. The attorneys at Fisher Injury Lawyers have the knowledge and experience that going against a large corporation requires. If you or someone you know was seriously injured by a product in this list due to a defect, contact one of the attorneys at Fisher Injury Lawyers today.
Chris J. Day, Personal Injury Attorney
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