Nichols v. Union Underwear Co.
Supreme Court of Kentucky
602 S.W.2d 429 (1980)
Richard Nichols (plaintiff) was injured when his T-shirt, made by Union Underwear Company (defendant) and compliant with all federal flammability standards, caught fire while he played with matches. Nichols sued Union for strict-liability design defect, and the trial court instructed the jury on the traditional consumer-expectation test — asking whether the shirt's condition was more dangerous than an ordinary consumer would expect. The jury found for Union, an intermediate appellate court affirmed, and Nichols appealed, challenging the jury instruction itself.
Whether the consumer-expectation test remains the proper standard for determining whether a product is unreasonably dangerous and therefore defective in a strict-liability design-defect case.