Thibault v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
New Hampshire Supreme Court
395 A.2d 843 (1978)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
The purchaser of a lawn mower (buyer) (plaintiff) manufactured by Sears, Roebuck & Company (Sears) (defendant) sued Sears for personal-injury damages the buyer received when the buyer slipped and fell while mowing a slope in an up and down direction and the buyer’s foot got caught under the mower’s housing and was injured. The instruction booklet for the mower twice advised the operator to mow slopes sideways and not up and down. The buyer sued Sears, alleging liability under negligence and strict-liability theories. The jury returned verdicts for Sears on both theories, and the buyer appealed the decision on his strict-liability theory.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Douglas, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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.