Brief Fact Summary. The Superior Court, Appellate Division, (New Jersey) reversed the judgment of the trial court, holding that Gimbel’s, Inc. (Defendant) was not liable for damage to Plaintiff’s hair and scalp allegedly caused by a product used in giving a permanent wave. Defendant appealed.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. One, who in the regular course of a business sells or applies a product (in the sense of the sales-service hybrid transaction) that is in such a dangerously defective condition as to cause physical harm to the consumer-patron, is liable for the harm.
The transaction, in our judgment, is a hybrid partaking of incidents of a sale and a service.
View Full Point of LawIssue. May retailers be held liability in strict liability for services rendered?
Held. Yes. In affirming the appellate court order, the Supreme Court of New Jersey remanded the case for a new trial stating that strict liability may be imposed on retailers such as Defendant if a jury found that the product in question was defective and was the proximate cause of Plaintiff’s injury.
Discussion. Generally, courts have not extended strict liability to those providing services. The reasoning being the limited reach of personal service, in contrast to the broad reach of mass-produced goods that flow into the stream of commerce. When the reach of strict liability has been extended, it is usually in circumstances, like here, where there was a defective product involved.