Defective Design and Failure To Warn Claims Allowed To Proceed Against High Pressure Hose Manufacturer in Kentucky Federal Court
While using an ultra-high pressure hose to clean heavy machinery in a process known as “hydroblasting” or “shotgunning” at a Kentucky manufacturing plant, a worker died after the hose ruptured and a powerful stream of water penetrated the worker’s abdomen. The worker’s estate brought defective design and failure to warn claims against the hose manufacturer claiming that the hose was unreasonably dangerous to users because it failed to include a built-in safety shroud.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky denied summary judgment to the hose manufacturer because use of the hose without a safety shroud was not conduct so “extraordinary” or “unforeseeable” as to insulate the manufacturer (i.e., use without a safety shroud was not an intervening act constituting a superseding cause under Kentucky law). The court also found that the adequacy of the manufacturer’s warning was a triable issue for the jury based on the evidence in the case and explained that the plaintiff did not have to produce evidence proving that the plant owner or the worker would have followed an adequate warning.
