A federal appeals court has ruled that Amazon can be sued over a defective product sold by one of its third-party vendors, in a decision the dissenting judge called “a relatively uncharted area of law.”
The lawsuit was brought by a Pennsylvania woman who suffered permanent blindness in one eye after a retractable dog leash she bought online snapped and hit her four years ago.
Heather Oberdorf sued Amazon for strict products liability and negligence, but a lower court ruled the online retailer was protected because it couldn’t be characterized as a seller under state law. It also concluded her claims were barred by the Communications Decency Act, a 1990s federal law that shields online publishers of third-party content.
In a 2-1 decision released last week, however, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed most of the lower court’s ruling, holding that Amazon can be classified as a seller in part because it doesn’t allow customers to communicate directly with third-party vendors.
David Wilk, an attorney who argued the case for Oberdorf, said he believed it was the first time a court had characterized Amazon as a seller under state products liability laws.