Welge v. Planters Lifesavers Co.

Welge (plaintiff) was injured when a glass peanut jar shattered as he put the cap on; he testified he used the jar as intended and did nothing to damage it afterward, and experts agreed a defect existed but could not pinpoint where or when it arose in the supply chain from Planters (defendant) through K-Mart (defendant). The district court granted the defendants summary judgment because Welge had not excluded other possible causes of the accident, and Welge appealed.

Whether a seller subject to strict products liability is responsible for a defective product's consequences even if another party in the manufacturing chain introduced the defect without the seller's fault, and whether the plaintiff must exclude every other possible cause to survive summary judgment.