Ray v. Alad Corporation

Alad Corporation (Alad I), a ladder manufacturer, sold its stock, equipment, trade name, customer lists, inventory, and goodwill to Lighting Maintenance Corporation for $207,000, agreed to dissolve, and helped Lighting organize a new corporation, Alad Corporation (Alad II) (defendant), which continued producing the same ladder products; the sale agreement never addressed liability for defects in products Alad I had already manufactured. After Alad I formally dissolved, Ray (plaintiff) was injured falling from an Alad ladder that Alad I had manufactured before dissolution, and sued Alad II on a strict tort liability theory; the trial court granted Alad II summary judgment, finding it shouldn't bear successor liability, and Ray appealed.