In its May 9, 2019, decision, the New York Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division, holding that the Scarangella exclusion to design defect liability for optional safety features is not subject to a "rental market" exclusion. The Scarangella exclusion holds that under certain circumstances, the buyer is in a better position than the manufacturer to decide whether optional safety features are appropriate for the user's application. The Court held that there was no reason to draw a distinction between the employer-buyer that made the decision not to purchase back-up alarms for buses driven by its employees in Scarangella and the rental yard−buyer in Fasolas that made the decision not to purchase an optional safety kit for limited specialized applications of the defendant's skid steer loader on behalf of its rental customers.

Read full blog post.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.