Fitness Equipment Warranties
HELP! Law school question 
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Warranties, product liability, and consumer law?Implied warranties.?
Warranties, product liability, and consumer law?
Implied warranties. Sam, a farmer, needs to install a 2,000 pound piece of equipment in his barn. The equipment must be lifted 30 feet into a hayloft. Sam goes to Durham Hardware and tells Durham that he needs some heavyduty rope to be used on his farm. Durham recommends a one inch thick nylon rope, and Sam purchases 200 feet of it. Sam ties the rope around the piece of equipment, puts the rope through a pulley, and with the aid of a tractor lifts the equipment off the ground. Suddenly, the rope breaks. The equipment crashes to the ground and is extensively damaged. Sam files suit against Durham for breach of implied warrranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Discuss how successful Sam will be with this suit.
Excellent practice for my bar exam!
(c)
Sam will most likely not be successful in his lawsuit against Durham Hardware.
(r)
Under UCC Article 2 section 315, a seller will be liable for an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose when (1) he or she has reason to know of a particular purpose that (2) the buyer reasonably relies upon the skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods, and (3) the seller has reason to know that the buyer will rely on the seller’s skill or judgment.
(a)
Here, Durham has reason to know of a general purpose for use of Sam’s rope, but not a particular purpose. Sam stated to Durham that he needed some heavy duty rope to be used on his farm. He did not inform Durham that he would be using the rope to lift a 2000 pound piece of equipment 30 ft in his barn through use of a pulley and tractor. While Sam’s use was particular, this information would have been useful to Durham in making a recommendation. Instead, the general “farm use,” could include a myriad of uses with significantly less strain on the rope, and there was no communication of a particular purpose.
Furthermore, Sam did not fully rely on Durham’s judgment because he specifically requested a heavy duty rope and determined that 200ft would be appropriate. Sam had selected a rope for use in his lifting project, but did not leave it to Durham as to whether a rope would do the job. After Durham’s recommendation, Sam selected 200ft as a suitable length. Because Sam took an active role in selecting rope and a length of rope for use in his project, he did not fully rely on Durham’s skill and judgment.
Finally, Durham did not have reason to know that Sam would rely upon its judgment. Durham is in the business of selling hardware goods for general purposes, but Durham is not in the farming business. Sam is a farmer who constructed a sophisticated method of hoisting 2000lbs of equipment in his hayloft. The fact pattern does not reveal how much experience Sam has as a farmer, and how much experience Durham has in furnishing equipment to farmers. If Sam was inexperienced, communicated this to Durham, and Durham was experienced with furnishing hardware to other farmers, this would be evidence of reliance on Durham’s skill and judgment. However, the record gives no indication that Sam’s experience was inferior to Durham’s in this matter. There is no indication that Durham had reason to know that Sam would rely upon its judgment.
(c)
Even if Sam could make out a prima facie case for breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, he would be barred from recovery for the consequential damages from damage to his equipment.
(r)
Under UCC article 2 section 715, a buyer may recover consequential damages that are the proximate result of the seller’s breach of warranty. The leading case of Hadley v. Baxendale informs Sam that he must prove that the damages did not result in the ordinary course, that the resulting damage was a foreseeable result, and that the seller tacitly agreed to assume the risk of loss due to the breach.
(a)
Here, Sam’s equipment broke as the proximate result of the rope breaking when he used the rope to raise it. The effect was immediate with no intervening factor in the cause of the result. Additionally, the resulting damage did not result from the ordinary course of Sam and Durham’s contract; it was not anticipated that the rope would break. It is a foreseeable result that equipment would break as the result of a fall. Sam’s claim for consequential damages fails on the factor of tacit agreement for assumption of the risk. There is no indication that Durham Hardware would assume the risk of Sam’s hoisting project. They were not properly informed of the cost of the equipment, and there is no evidence that the sales contract included a guarantee of assumed risk for Sam’s equipment. The difference in value between the rope and the equipment, if any, would also be good evidence that Durham does not warrant against consequential damages. Normally, a retailer would adjust prices to reflect the risk of loss under basic economic principles.
(c)
For the foregoing reasons, Sam would most likely not recover in his suit against Durham and would recover merely the cost of the rope if he did.
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