July 15, 2019

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against Amazon.com Inc. in a case that could expose Amazon and other online retailers to lawsuits from customers who purchase defective products from third-party vendors from their websites. The case is Oberdorf v. Amazon.com Inc., No. 18-1041, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 19982 (3rd Cir. July 3, 2019).

In 2015, the plaintiff, Heather Oberdorf, returned home from work, put a retractable leash on the dog, and took the dog for a walk. The dog unexpectedly lunged, causing the D-ring on the collar to break and the leash to recoil back and hit Oberdorf's face and glasses. She was permanently blinded in her left eye as a result of this incident. Oberdorf had purchased the collar on Amazon.com. Neither Amazon, nor Oberderf has been able to locate a representative of The Furry Gang, the third-party vendor, which has not had an active account on Amazon.com since May 2016. The Oberdorf's sued Amazon.com, including claims for strict products liability and negligence. The District Court found that, under Pennsylvania law, Amazon was not liable for the injuries Oberdorf suffered. The District Court emphasized that the third-party vendor, as opposed to Amazon itself, listed the collar on the Amazon website and shipped the collar directly to Oberdorf, and found that Amazon is not subject to strict products liability claims as they are not the “seller” under Pennsylvania law, and that the claims of the Oberdorf's are barred by the Communications Decency Act because she seeks to hold Amazon liable for its role as the online publisher of the third-party content.

The 3rd Circuit agreed with the Oberdorf's argument, and said that Amazon may be liable in part because it's business model “enables third-party vendors to conceal themselves from the customer, leaving customers injured by defective products with no direct recourse to the third party vendor.” The 3 judge panel sent the case back to the lower court to determine whether the leash was truly defective.

Editors Note: Amazon sells its own products, and allows third-party vendors to list products for sale on its website. Those vendors may store their products in Amazon warehouses or ship their products directly to customers. About half of the items sold on Amazon come from third-party companies.

Numerous other courts, including two federal appeals courts, have previously held that Amazon cannot be held liable as a seller of products from third-party vendors. The existing product liability law interpretation in Pennsylvania and across the country is trailing behind the vastly popular e-commerce trends, and the hold that a huge company like Amazon has over the e-commerce market.

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