Eastwood v. Horse Harbor Foundation, Inc., 241 P.3d 1256 (2010)

Citation: Eastwood v. Horse Harbor Foundation, Inc., 241 P.3d 1256 (2010)
Parent Document: Eastwood v. Horse Harbor Foundation, Inc., 241 P.3d 1256 (2010)
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Effective Date: 2010-11-04
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2372386/eastwood-v-horse-harbor-foundation-inc/ ↗

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¶ 53 I agree with the lead opinion that an examination of how we got here is useful. However, I find it more useful to trace the independent duty rule from its inception to best understand its development. The lead opinion properly discusses the influential decision of East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval, Inc., 476 U.S. 858, 106 S.Ct. 2295, 90 L.Ed.2d 865 (1986), a case that never uses the words "economic loss doctrine" by name but is seminal to its development. The defendant, Delaval, had manufactured defective turbines that, once installed in the plaintiffs' boats, malfunctioned, causing significant loss of income. The plaintiffs sued in tort, based on a theory of products liability, among others. The defendants argued that the plaintiffs were limited to their contract damages. Under products liability law, the manufacturer is strictly liable "where a product `reasonably certain to place life and limb in peril,' distributed without reinspection, causes bodily injury." Id. at 866 (quoting MacPherson, 217 N.Y. at 389, 111 N.E. 1050). The court noted that we impose product liability in tort on the manufacturer "because `public policy demands that responsibility be fixed wherever it will most effectively reduce the hazards to life and health inherent in defective products that reach the market.'" Id. (quoting Escola v. Coca Cola Bottling Co. of Fresno, 24 Cal.2d 453, 462, 150 P.2d 436 (1944) (Traynor, J., concurring)). "For similar reasons of safety, the manufacturer's duty of care was broadened to include protection against property damage." Id. at 867, 106 S.Ct. 2295. The question arose whether a products liability action could be brought when the product damaged was the product that had been purchased from the defendant. The court concluded that it could not because "a manufacturer in a commercial relationship has no duty under either a negligence or strict products-liability theory to prevent a product from injuring itself." Id. at 871, 106 S.Ct. 2295. The court characterized the plaintiffs' significant consequential damages as the "benefit of its bargain" and concluded that the law of warranty was better suited to redress plaintiffs' contractual disappointments. Id. at 868, 106 S.Ct. 2295. The East *1273 River court mentioned the phase "risk of harm" in discussing the policy of allowing parties to allocate risk among themselves. Since then, this court has discussed the risk of harm approach in determining liability for construction defects where the result of deterioration caused damage only to the defective product itself. See Wash. Water Power Co. v. Graybar Elec. Co., 112 Wash.2d 847, 860-65, 774 P.2d 1199 (1989); see also Alejandre, 159 Wash.2d at 684, 153 P.3d 864 (citing Touchet Valley Grain Growers, Inc. v. Opp & Seibold Gen. Constr., Inc., 119 Wash.2d 334, 351, 831 P.2d 724 (1992)).

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