Product Recalls: Why is Tort Law Deferring to Agency Inaction?

(Excerpt) Part I of this Article explores tort law’s treatment of agency standards and regulations regarding determinations of product defectiveness, the propriety of post-sale warnings, and whether to punish the manufacturer with punitive damages. Part II then explains how tort law treats agency determinations—and lack thereof—on product recalls. This Part explains how tort law’s narrow standards for liability defer to agency orders to determine the reasonableness of a product recall and how that deference is illogical and inconsistent with negligence per se principles. Part II also concludes that product recalls are not so special so as to deserve special treatment within tort law.