Court: Calif. Law Restricts Duty-to-Warn to Entities in Chain of Distribution

SAN FRANCISCO -- A California appellate court has ruled in a duty-to-warn dispute, finding that defendants have an obligation to warn a plaintiff of defects in products supplied by others and used in conjunction with its own products. Taylor, et al. v. Crane Co., et al., No. A117648 (Calif. Ct. App., 1st Dist., Div. 5).

In the Feb. 25 decision, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the award of summary judgment to defendants who argued that -- on their own -- their products posed no danger to the plaintiffs.

The court said that imposing liability on the …