Court: Defendants Not Protected by Sophisticated User Defense

OMAHA, Neb. -- Despite months of briefing on the issue, a Nebraska federal court has opted not to make a determination on whether the state recognizes the sophisticated user defense, instead ruling that the defendants have failed to prove that it would be protected by such a defense, should it be available. Vondra, et al. v. Chevron USA Inc., et al., No. 07-85 (D. Neb.).

In its Aug. 17 ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska said that the defendants had failed to show that they relied on a third party to warn end users of the …