Amazon.com can be held liable like other traditional retailers for injuries from defective products sold via its sprawling e-commerce marketplace, a California state appeals court ruled on Thursday. The decision overturned a San Diego Superior Court ruling that the world's biggest online retailer was shielded from liability because it acted as a service provider, which is not subject to California product liability law.
In addition to selling its own inventory, Amazon allows third-party vendors to list products for sale on its website. Such vendors may store their products in Amazon's warehouses or ship them directly to customers.
The appeals court found that Amazon played a pivotal role in every step of plaintiff Angela Bolger's purchase of a replacement laptop battery from Amazon third-party seller Lenoge Technology HK Ltd, which was operating under the fictitious name "E-Life." Bolger alleged that the battery burst into flames while she balanced the laptop on her thighs, resulting in severe burns to her arms, legs and feet.
"Whatever term we use to describe Amazon's role, be it 'retailer,' 'distributor,' or merely 'facilitator,' it was pivotal in bringing the product here to the consumer," the appeals court held.
...Both Pennsylvania's and Ohio's top courts are currently considering the issue, and federal appeals courts are weighing cases under California and Texas law.
Per aspera ad astra*... except the "aspera" part is taken by a third party, eh?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @05:33PM
Also keep in mind that Amazon often times mixes items from different sellers in the same bins and as a result there's often no way of figuring out which seller would be liable for damages from defective merchandise. It was a massive problem a few years back during the eclipse because there were properly specced and certified eclipse glasses interspersed with ones that weren't, the result being that all of them had to be tossed. Amazon does that because it allows them to charge more so that companies don't have to worry about their products being swapped out for counterfeit ones from a different store. It's often why you see such a mixture of review with lots of excellent ratings and a bunch of negative ones, often the reviews are actually reviewing different products that were shipped under the same listing.