Plaintiff found 100% at fault in strict products liability trial

Suzanne Bruss obtained a defense verdict for St. Joe Harley-Davidson in a strict products liability suit brought by a customer who crashed his motorcycle on the ride home from the dealership. The plaintiff alleged that the tire dressing applied to the motorcycle tires made the bike defective and unreasonably dangerous because the tires made the bike unstable in a turn. The defense offered evidence that the plaintiff had been observed having difficulty balancing the bike and narrowly missed hitting a parked car in the parking lot. The defense also offered proof that the tire dressing product applied to the tires was a water-based product and that it was only applied to the sidewalls of the tires. At trial, plaintiff asked the jury to return a verdict in the amount of $515,417.41. The jury found the plaintiff to be 100% at fault and returned a defense verdict.