Negligent Tort and product liability Timmco, Inc Case

Timmco, Inc. is a publicly traded corporation located in Denton, Texas that makes and sells high pressure industrial spraying equipment used in all sorts of commercial liquid spraying applications. It prides itself on top quality and promotes its products as “100% made in the USA”.Sales have been declining recently due to competition from lower priced competitors and Timmco is looking for ways to reduce costs. One option under consideration is to find a new source for the high-pressure valves used in its products. These valves are complicated mechanisms that operate under very high internal pressure. If the valve was to burst, it would spray pieces of metal in all directions and pose a significant hazard to anyone standing nearby including the operator of the equipment. Timmco currently has a contract to purchase 1,000 valves a year at $2,500 per valve from Blagg Industries, a small privately owned business located in Boone, North Carolina. The contract has been in place for three years and has two more years to run.Blagg Industries has a dozen employees. Timmco is its primary customer. If Blagg Industries loses Timmco’s business, it will have to lay off employees and might even go out of business.Timmco is considering outsourcing the valves from Sanco, an overseas supplier in the country of Slawrovia, instead of buying valves from Blagg Industries. The Sanco valves only cost $1,000 each, but are known to be of lower quality than the Blagg Industries valves and are more likely to burst. Sanco can supply these valves at such low cost because they pay their workers, including children, less than the equivalent of $5 per day and work them long hours in hot, dangerous conditions.Slawrovia is a poor country, but it has a large government bureaucracy and there is a lot of red tape involved in getting approval to export manufactured goods to other countries. In fact, it might take more than a year for Sanco and Timmco to obtain the necessary approvals for Sanco to export the valves to Timmco. Fortunately, the CEO of Sanco is related to the Slawrovia Minister of Commerce and has told Timmco that the necessary approvals can be obtained in less than a week if Timmco makes a $20,000 “gift” to the Slawrovia Minister of Commerce.In addition to finding a new, low cost valve supplier, Timmco plans to increase sales by running a new marketing campaign that focuses on their commitment to American made quality. The tagline will be “Made in the USA by Americans, for Americans.”You are a high-level executive at Timmco. Analyze the legal and ethical issues presented by the Timmco scenario.1. Analyze neglect torts and product liability 2. Must utilize academic voice, IRAC method and 2 scholarly peer reviewed resources.

Issue

The issue is whether Nimmco would be liable for negligence by ordering products that had posed a higher risk of physical harm to the operators and bystanders.

Rule

Product defects that cause product liability include design defects and manufacturing defects. A party is liable if the plaintiff proves that the product was defective without considering the intention of the producer or seller (Henderson et al., 2021). Consumers have the right to know, get educated, be safe and choose products that conform to their preferences. Violations of any of these rights could result in product liability torts. A negligence lawsuit can be filed against a company for causing injury to the customers or a third party. The manufacturer should ensure the product is safe and presents minimal harm to other parties (Abraham & Rabin, 2018). They must perform reasonable care to ensure it matches the standards for use.

Application

The injuries caused by the products from Blagg industries could cause product liability lawsuits against the company. It is Timmco’s responsibility to ensure it sells safe products. Having information about the quality of valves produced by Blagg industries and the higher risk of harm could amount to negligence in case of injury. If the valves cause harm to the operators or third parties, the company could be held liable under product liability laws.

Conclusion

Timmco understands the state of valves produced by Blagg industries. It is reasonable to expect a higher risk of injury to operators and third parties with the valves manufactured by underage workers and supplied without undergoing the legal process.

References

Abraham, K. S., & Rabin, R. L. (2018). Automated Vehicles and Manufacturer Responsibility for Accidents: A New Legal Regime for a New Era. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3159525

Henderson, J. A., Twerski, A. D., & Kysar, D. A. (2021). Products liability: problems and process. Wolters Kluwer.