Lewis v. Sea Ray Boats, Inc.

Leo Gasse bought a used Sea Ray Boats (defendant) boat with a small gas generator for air conditioning; Gasse and Robin Lewis (plaintiff) slept aboard with the generator running overnight, and the next day a friend found Gasse dead and Lewis barely alive from carbon-monoxide poisoning from the generator. Existing warnings, from the generator's manufacturer and a marine trade association, and verbal warnings given at the point of sale, all focused on carbon monoxide from the boat's engine exhaust rather than the separate generator. Lewis and Gasse's heirs sued Sea Ray on strict products liability; the trial court rejected Lewis's proposed jury instruction on warning adequacy and instead told the jury to use common sense based on an average consumer's impression, and even after the jury twice asked for a clearer definition, the judge simply repeated the same instruction. The jury found for Sea Ray, and Lewis appealed.