163 Wis. 428 | Wis. | 1916
Tbe plaintiff claims that tbe defendant sboe company is liable to bim under tbe rule wbicb bolds a manufacturer or dealer in articles liable to persons other than .tbe immediate purchaser for injuries caused by tbe wrongful and negligent conduct of tbe manufacturer or dealer. Tbe general rule of liability of a manufacturer or seller of an article to persons other than bis immediate purchaser was considered and applied in Hasbrouck v. Armour & Co. 139 Wis. 357, 121 N. W. 157. It was there held that, as a general rule, a manufacturer or dealer of an article is not liable to persons other than tbe immediate purchasers of such articles, for want of any contractual relationship and privity between tbe manufacturer and tbe persons buying from tbe manufacturer’s immediate purchaser. Tbe court also recognized tbe well established exceptions to this rule under which it has been held that tbe law imposes a duty on a manufacturer or seller of an imminently dangerous article, in favor of tbe user or consumer of such article, to exercise care for their protection commensurate with tbe peril and dangers involved. Under tbe following exceptional facts and circumstances a manufacturer or dealer was considered to be liable to third persons if such article causes an injury wbicb was reasonably to be anticipated:
(1) “A manufacturer or dealer who puts out, sells, or delivers, without notice to others of its dangerous qualities, an article wbicb invites a certain use, and which article is not inherently dangerous, but wbicb by reason of negligent construction be knows to be imminently dangerous to life and limb, or is manifestly dangerous when used as it is intended to be used.”'
(2) “A manufacturer or dealer who puts out and sells articles inherently dangerous, without notice of their dangerous nature, or with a misleading notice, or negligently in any other way.”
(3) “A manufacturer or dealer who makes and sells an article intended to preserve or affect human life is liable to third persons sustaining injury caused by bis negligence in preparing, compounding, labeling, or directing tbe use of tbe article.”
Under these facts and circumstances of the case it must be held that the complaint fails to state a cause of action against the defendant Chippewa Shoe Manufacturing Company, and the court properly sustained the demurrer to the complaint.
By the Court. — The order appealed from is affirmed.