Where a child’s booster seat was only dangerous because it was used in conjunction with an aftermarket seat belt extender, the booster seat manufacturer had no duty to warn purchasers of that potential danger under Tennessee products liability law.
In Woodruff v. Ford Motor Company, No. E2023-00488-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 28, 2024), plaintiff’s husband was killed and her children were severely injured in a car accident. At the time of the accident, her husband was driving a Nissan vehicle. Her son sat in the back seat in a booster seat manufactured by defendant. Because the car had recessed seat belt receivers, the husband had added a seat belt extender to the back seat belt and used it on the seat belt securing the son in the booster seat. The seat belt extender was not manufactured by the same company as the booster seat and had no affiliation with the booster seat.
After the accident, plaintiff filed this products liability case against several manufacturers and sellers. (See this post for a separate opinion in this case affirming summary judgment for Ford Motor Company as the manufacturer of the seat belt extender). Relevant to this opinion, the trial court granted summary judgment to defendant booster seat manufacturer, finding that defendant had no duty to warn about a seat belt extender that it did not manufacture or sell. The Court of Appeals affirmed this ruling.