Livingston v. Marie Callender’s, Inc.
California Court of Appeal
85 Cal. Rptr. 2d 528 (1999)
- Written by Serena Lipski, JD
Facts
David Livingston (plaintiff) had asthma, and the ingestion of monosodium glutamate (MSG) could cause him serious adverse reactions. Livingston went to a restaurant owned by Marie Callender’s, Inc. (defendant) for lunch. Livingston told his server about his asthma and asked whether the vegetable soup contained MSG. The server incorrectly told Livingston that the soup did not have MSG. Livingston ate the soup and suffered MSG Symptom Complex, causing respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, and brain damage. Livingston sued Marie Callender’s, asserting claims for strict liability and negligence, among other claims. Livingston’s strict-liability claim alleged that because the soup contained MSG, it was defective and unfit for human consumption. The trial court dismissed Livingston’s claims except for his negligence claim. After trial, the jury completed a special-verdict form in which the jury found Marie Callender’s was not negligent. Livingston appealed, arguing that Marie Callender’s failure to warn him of the presence of MSG made Marie Callender’s strictly liable.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Turner, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 834,000 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.
