Products Liability in a Post-Tincher World: Appellate Court Upholds $55M Verdict Against American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Last week in American Honda Motor Co., Inc., v. Martinez, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a $55 million verdict despite noting that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Tincher v. Omega Flex, Inc. dictates that the jury, not the court, should have decided the threshold question of whether a product is “unreasonably dangerous.”

The Pennsylvania Superior Court found that the jury had indirectly determined that the product was “unreasonably dangerous” and further upheld the trial court’s decision to preclude evidence of a product’s compliance with federal regulations, as it misleads a jury.

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