Can I Sue After a Recall?

In today’s mail you received a recall notice for your car saying there is a defective part that needs to be replaced. Or you hear on the news that a grocery item you bought has been recalled due to contamination. What does it mean when there is a product recall? What are your consumer rights? Can you file a lawsuit for product liability or personal injury?

A recall may fix the underlying problem with your vehicle or defective product. And some recalls may even offer compensation in the form of a refund in addition to free repairs of the recalled product by a car dealership or other retailer. But what if you've been injured in a car accident as a result of the defective product? What kind of legal claims can you file for yourself or a loved one if an injury occurred?

You could file a product liability case or a personal injury case. Or maybe there is a class action lawsuit you can join. But first you need to know if the product meets the legal standard necessary to support a claim.

What is a Defective Product?

Determining what kind of product defect you have is the first step to legal recovery. Organizations like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) may have important information regarding your potential claim. If the product is a food or drug, you may look government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There could be a design defect with the product, meaning that there is something wrong with the design of the car or other product that makes it unsafe or prone to cause accidents. Evidence of this could be other personal injury cases or vehicle accidents that can show the unsafe nature of the product.

Or, there could be a manufacturing defect with the product. This would mean that the product, if it was manufactured perfectly, would be just fine. Except in this situation, some sort of problem in the manufacturing process has caused the faulty product to be unsafe in some way like a part in a motor vehicle that fails. This can also be true for a food item that is contaminated due to issues at a processing facility or with distributors which then requires a food recall.

Lastly, there could be a warning defect. Warning defects occur when the product is not accompanied with appropriate warnings about known risks of using the product.

What's next? Consult a products liability attorney or personal injury lawyer for legal advice. They can explain the legal standard you will need to meet to support your case and the types of damages you might be able to recover if you are successful. An experienced attorney can also explain any downside you may face by filing your case.

Related Resources:

• Food Recalls (FindLaw’s Learn About the Law)
• Your Right to Recall Remedies (FindLaw’s Learn About the Law)
• If You Have a Problem with a Recall Repair (FindLaw’s Learn About the Law)