Rep. Blake Farenthold has reintroduced the Innocent Sellers Act (H.R. 2746) in the House of Representatives. The bill, which is supported by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), would protect dealers that do not manufacture products from defective-product lawsuits.
"Business owners that only sell products, and are not involved in the manufacturing process, should not be held liable for defects that they did not create," said NLBMDA chairman Chuck Bankston in a statement.
The NLBMDA points out that many building material dealers end up settling even baseless cases rather than pay the high cost of defending against product liability lawsuits. Even if the defect or failure was due to poor manufacturing or user error, the seller often faces some or all of the liability.
"No amount of care can free a seller from disproportionate product liability, and plaintiffs' lawyers know this. They routinely sue anyone in the chain of distribution of a product, often forcing settlements out of otherwise innocent merchants. These abusive product liability cases are part of a growing litigation burden on our nation's small businesses and our economy," said NLBMDA president and CEO Michael O'Brien in a statement. "This legislation will bring some sanity back to our legal system, and we urge Congress to act swiftly on H.R. 2746."
Versions of the bill have been introduced since 2006, but have, to date, expired at the end of each session.
