AB 3262 Disrupts Liability Law

Aug 29,2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the shopping experience for individuals around the world. As could probably be expected, a growing number of shoppers are turning to e-commerce in order to avoid potential exposure to the virus in brick and mortar stores. In many situations, these changes in shopping trends could truly become the “new norm”.

That being said, with a growing reliance on e-commerce – most notably, the Amazon platform – situations are arising where third-party vendors who have been given the opportunity to sell their products through online marketplaces are delivering faulty and potentially harmful items to buyers. Assembly Bill 3262 has been introduced in order to help create some degree of accountability in these marketplaces.

According to the details of the Bill, an electronics retail marketplace will be assigned liability in the event that a product sold through the marketplace was defective and resulted in damage to an individual or property. It is also important to note here that AB3262 would impose a degree of liability imposed on electronics retailers that is equal to, but no greater than, the same liability imposed on other retailers. With that in mind, it could be argued that AB3262 is merely standardizing the field for all businesses.

There are certain exceptions to these provisions, however. According to the wording in the Bill, an electronics retail marketplace will not be held liable in situations where:

The product that caused the damage was one of the following:
- Preowned or used and prominently described or prominently advertised on the electronic retail marketplace as preowned or used at the time it was purchased by the consumer.
- Handmade.
The electronic retail marketplace did not receive a direct or indirect financial benefit from the sale of the defective product that caused the injury.
The sale or transaction of the product occurred by auction and is exempt from strict liability, as described in Tauber-Arons Auctioneers Co. v. Superior Court (1980) 101 Cal.App.3d 268.

AB3262 is currently on the Senate floor in pending status. More updates. about this Bill be provided as they are obtained.

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DISCLAIMER: The Walter Clark Legal Group blog is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended as legal or medical advice. References to laws are based on general legal practices and vary by location. Information reported comes from secondary news sources. We do handle these types of cases, but whether or not the individuals and/or loved ones involved in these accidents choose to be represented by a law firm is a personal choice we respect. Should you find any of the information incorrect, we welcome you to contact us with corrections.