Lane v. C. A. Swanson & Sons
California Court of Appeal
130 Cal.App.2d 210, 278 P.2d 723 (1955)
- Written by Noah Lewis, JD
Facts
John Lane (plaintiff) purchased a can of C. A. Swanson and Sons (Swanson) (defendant) chicken from Foods Company (defendant). The can was labeled “boned chicken.” An advertisement for the product seen by Lane included among the many descriptors of the product, “No bones.” A bone hidden in the canned chicken became lodged in Lane’s throat, which caused severe injury and required medical and surgical treatment. Lane brought an action for breach of warranty, seeking damages for his injuries and expenses. Lane argued that Swanson and Foods Company warranted that the chicken was free from bones. Swanson argued it is not possible to remove all bones and that boned meant that the major bones had been removed. The trial court found no evidence of an express warranty that the can was free from bones. Instead, the term was merely descriptive, and the general public would not believe the contents to be wholly free from bones.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Shinn, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
