California legal rulings may have big impact on Amazon’s liability for third-party products it sells
May 9, 2021 at 10:23 am
(BigStock Photo)
In November 2015, Kisha Loomis signed on to Amazon and ordered her son a hoverboard, a two-wheeled vehicle popular with kids and balanced with gyroscopic gears.
Just more than four weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, its lithium ion battery exploded and the hoverboard burst into flames, setting Loomis’ bed on fire.
Loomis, who lives near Sacramento, suffered burns fighting the blaze and sued, accusing Amazon of selling her a faulty and dangerous product. Amazon countered that the hoverboard was sold on its platform by a third-party company based in China and the Seattle retail giant therefore shouldn’t be held liable for a product it didn’t manufacture, sell or ship.
Michaels | jillianmichaels.com
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Fitness personality Jillian Michaels can sue the law firm Greenberg Traurig over allegedly bad advice she received when she signed conflicting contracts with the “Biggest Loser” TV show and a diet supplement company that later was accused of false advertising.
The California Second Appellate District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court’s decision dismissing the claims by Michaels and her personal holding company Empowered Media. The trial judge improperly rejected an opinion from a financial expert Michaels hired on her lost future profits, the appellate court ruled, and also erred by refusing to accept her argument she could have negotiated better deals if she had been properly advised.