Edward J. Beshada, by His Administratrix Ad Prosequendum, Eleanor Beshada; Eleanor Beshada

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court held that a state-of-the-art defense is not permissible in strict liability failure-to-warn product liability cases, reversing the trial court's denial of the plaintiffs' motion to strike that defense. The court based its decision on the imputation of knowledge principle from Freund and related precedents, emphasizing policy goals of risk spreading and accident avoidance.