Thomas Moraca, Plaintiff-Respondent, and Evelyn Moraca, Plaintiff v. Ford Motor Company, a Corporation of the State…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division, holding that a plaintiff in a products liability action need not prove a specific defect and may rely on circumstantial evidence to infer a manufacturing defect, and that the trial court’s jury charge was erroneous. The Court also held that liability and contributory negligence issues are not separable, so the retrial must address both. A dissent argued the majority misapplied Scanlon and would reverse, while a concurrence agreed with the result but emphasized the proper scope of the Sabloff rule.