Flame after an $$ON$/$OFF$$ switch is slid to the $$on$$ position. On the night of March $31,$ Calles and Victoria left to get videos. Jenna and Jillian were in bed, and Amanda was watching television. When Calles returned the house was on fire. Finn, the fire investigator, determined that Jenna had started a fire using the lighter. Jillian suffered smoke inhalation, was hospitalized, and died. Calles filed a suit against Scripto$-$Tokai Corp., which distributed the Aim N Flame, and others. In her suit, which was grounded, in part, in strict liability claims, Calles alleged that the lighter was an $$unreasonably dangerous product.$$ Scripto filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that an ordinary user would understand the dangers of the lighter in the hands of a child and that the utility of the lighter outweighed its risks. How should the court rule?

Question $2$Answer

a$.$

Scripto should lose. There is a question of fact whether the risks of the lighter are outweighed by its utility, and reasonable persons could differ as to whether the Aim N Flame is unreasonably dangerous.

b$.$

Scripto should win. The pur$$pose of a lighter such as the Aim N Flame, is to produce a flame. The ordi$$nary consumer would expect that, when the trigger is pulled, a flame would be produced. Here, the Aim N Flame was not used in its intended manner.

c$.$

Scripto should win. The Aim N Flame did not fail to perform as an ordinary consumer, an adult, would expect and the risks of the lighter were outweighed by its utility.

d$.$

Scripto should lose. There is a question of fact as to whether the Aim N Flame performed as an ordinary consumer would expect.