The theory of liability that Justice Posner used is the “doctrine of res ipsa loquitur” this
doctrine “teaches that an accident that is unlikely to occur unless the defendant was negligent, is itself
circumstantial evidence that the defendant was negligent” (Kubasek et al., 2019). The justices’
reasons for reversing the decisions of the lower court are based on this theory of liability that includes
that an accident is indeed evidence of liability. Because this type of accident does not just happen and
the chances of something happening between the time the product left the store and the accident
occurred that would cause this type of accident are so slim. He also used the fact that if reasonable
care was taken a consumer cannot be expected to look up their peanuts until they use them to ensure
the jar does not get damaged. The justice also stated part of this theory that since the probability of
defect being caused after the peanuts were purchased is low then the probability of it being likely to
have occurred beforehand would be high, (Kubasek et al., 2019).
a a a I agree with Justice Posner. The fact that jars do not just shatter when you place a lid on
them is the main reason. Unless it had been cracked ahead of time, at which point it would have
cracked more and not shattered. It is not reasonable to think any differently. The only way it would
have shattered is if there was a defect in the product or if it was under extreme and rapid temperature
changes. According to materials science expert Leonard Loh from Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of
Engineering “Glass is brittle, and it’s also a poor conductor of heat,” he said. “A sudden change in
temperature causes stresses in the glass, and that can cause the glass to fail.” still, this is unlikely to
happen at home, as glassware is not typically heated to such high temperatures, he noted”
(Arulnathan, Chan, 2021). So since this is very unlikely that they had temperatures high or low
enough for this to occur and the fact that the theory of liability also states that “the seller is liable for
defects in his product even if those defects were introduced, without the slightest fault of his own for
failing to discover them, at some anterior stage of production (Kubasek et al., 2019). It comes down
to if you sell a product and it is later discovered that there is a defect, you can be held liable for any
damages.
References
a Kubasek, N. K., M Neil Browne, Dhooge, L. J., Herron, D. J., & Barkacs, L. L. (2019). Dynamic
business law. Mcgraw-Hill Education.
a When glass suddenly shatters — why it happens and how to be on the safe side. (Feb 2021).
CNA. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cnainsider/when-tempered-
glass-panels-suddenly-shatter-why-how-to-be-safe-334206
