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Wright v. Brooke Group Ltd.

652 N.W.2d 159 (2002)

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Wright v. Brooke Group Ltd.

Iowa Supreme Court
652 N.W.2d 159 (2002)

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Facts

Robert and DeAnn Wright (defendants) filed a suit against cigarette manufacturers (the manufacturers) (defendants) in federal district court for damages resulting from Robert’s smoking. The Wrights alleged negligence, strict liability, breach of implied and express warranty, breach of special assumed duty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent nondisclosure, and civil conspiracy. The Wrights claimed that the consumer-contemplation and risk-utility tests applied to determine whether a product was unreasonably dangerous in a design-defect case. The manufacturers contended that only the consumer-contemplation test must apply to design-defect cases, so that a common knowledge of the risks of smoking would preclude a finding that cigarettes are dangerous to an extent beyond that contemplated by an ordinary consumer. The manufacturers filed a motion to dismiss the Wrights’ claims. After the court failed to grant the bulk of the manufacturer’s motion to dismiss, the manufacturers asked the federal court to certify novel and unsettled questions of products-liability law to the Iowa Supreme Court. The district court certified the question of which test applies under Iowa law to determine whether cigarettes are unreasonably dangerous.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ternus, J.)

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