Failure To Plead Specific Factual Allegations Dooms Product Liability Claims Against Bullet Manufacturer

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a bullet manufacturer last week from a case brought by a plaintiff who had suffered permanent injuries while attempting to fire a rifle.  The plaintiff alleged negligence, strict liability, breaches of express and implied warranties, and a claim for punitive damages against the multiple companies that manufactured certain parts of the rifle, including the manufacturer of the bullet he was using.  The court concluded, however, that the plaintiff failed to allege particularized facts in his complaint sufficient to satisfy federal pleading requirements as to the bullet manufacturer.

In the negligence count, for example, the plaintiff asserted that the bullets “being used … at the time of the incident were defective, causing increased barrel pressures leading to the explosion,” but presented no factual allegations that detailed “how” the bullet was defective in causing increased barrel pressures, whether because of the bullet’s properties or design or other defect.  As the court explained, “An assertion that the bullet was ‘defective,’ without any factual elaboration, is insufficient, as that statement is a ‘legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.'”  The other claims failed for similar reasons.