Dean v. Morningstar, v. the Black and Decker Manufacturing Company

Summary

The court answered certified questions by holding that West Virginia courts may develop and modify common-law principles despite constitutional and statutory provisions preserving the common law. It adopted a tort strict-liability rule for defective products, requiring proof that the product was defective when it left the manufacturer and that the defect proximately caused the injury, while rejecting the requirement that the product be unreasonably dangerous. The court declined to extend the Rylands doctrine to products placed in commerce and dismissed the certified proceeding.