Phillips v. Cricket Lighters
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
883 A.2d 439 (2005)
A two-year-old child took his mother's non-childproof disposable Cricket lighter (defendant) and started a fire that killed him and his family; the estate's administratrix Phillips (plaintiff) sued for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability and punitive damages, arguing the lighter should have been designed child-resistant. After the trial court granted summary judgment for Cricket, appellate proceedings bounced the case back and forth, with the superior court ultimately finding a jury question existed based on a state statute extending warranty protections to all household members, and Cricket sought further review.
Whether a claim for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability can succeed when the product was used for a purpose that is not its ordinary use.