Products Liability Law Daily Wrap Up, CAUSATION—INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT—D. Utah: Ladder suppliers win summary judgment in painter’s fall suit, (Jun 5, 2026)

By Pankhuri Bhatnagar, B.A. LL.B.

The painter failed to show that a product defect caused his alleged injuries and did not refute the suppliers’ expert opinions attributing his fall to user movement rather than product failure.

In an action brought against a ladder manufacturer and retailer by a painter injured in a workplace fall, a federal district court in Utah granted summary judgment to the suppliers. The painter’s strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty claims failed because he did not designate an expert witness on defect and causation, the ladder’s compliance with applicable government standards created a presumption of nondefectiveness, the suppliers could not have foreseen the harm or likelihood of injury, and he did not cite any express warranty on which he had relied (Hale v. Gorilla Ladder Co., No. 2:25-cv-00128 (D. Utah Jun. 1, 2026)).

Background. A man was working as a painter for Salt Lake Community College when he climbed a Gorilla-branded ladder manufactured by Tricam Industries and purchased from Home Depot. While standing on the ladder’s top platform and reaching toward a paint mark, he fell and allegedly suffered injuries. He claimed that the ladder’s left leg snapped below a rivet and screw, causing the fall. The painter sued the manufacturer and retailer (together, suppliers) for strict products liability, negligence, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and breach of express warranty. The suppliers moved for summary judgment and submitted expert testimony opining that the ladder did not fail but instead tipped after the painter imparted lateral forces while reaching. The painter filed no opposition to the motion and did not respond to the court’s subsequent order to show cause.

Expert evidence. The ladder’s warnings and instructions required users to: (1) keep the body centered between side rails and not overreach; (2) not ‘walk’ or ‘jog’ ladder when standing on it; and (3) avoid pushing or pulling off to the side of the ladder. The suppliers’ expert opined that the accident was by the painter’s movement rather than any defect in the ladder, since he was in motion and reaching towards a paint mark when the accident occurred. According to the expert, the forces imparted by the painter caused the ladder to tip to the left and the damage observed on the ladder after the incident was the result of the fall rather than its cause.

Strict liability. The suppliers first argued that all claims failed because the painter lacked evidence establishing either a product defect or causation. The court agreed. Under Utah law, causation is never presumed and must be affirmatively proven. Fox v. Brigham Young Univ., 2007 UT App 406, ¶ 21, 176 P.3d 446. Expert testimony is generally required in cases involving specialized knowledge such as engineering. Blank v. Garff Enters. Inc., 2021 UT App 6, ¶ 29, 482 P.3d 258. The court found that the design and construction of the ladder fell squarely within that category. The painter disclosed no expert witness to address defect, causation, engineering issues, or to rebut the suppliers’ expert opinions. Moreover, a strict liability claimant must prove that the product was unreasonably dangerous due to a defect which existed at the time of sale and caused the injury. Lamb v. B & B Amusements Corp., 869 P.2d 926, 929 (Utah 1993). It is not enough to show that the product failed and compliance with applicable government standards creates a presumption of nondefectiveness. Fortune v. Techtronic Indus. N. Am., 107 F. Supp. 3d 1199, 1202 (D. Utah 2015). Here, Tricam and an independent testing firm confirmed that the subject ladder model met the applicable ANSI standards. Because the painter presented no evidence overcoming that presumption, the strict liability claim failed.

Negligence. To establish product liability based on negligence, a claimant must establish that the manufacturer owed a duty of reasonable care. Utah courts evaluate the existence of a duty based on the manufacturer’s foreseeability of harm, likelihood of injury, the burden of preventing the harm, and the consequences of imposing that burden. Slisze v. Stanley-Bostitch, 1999 UT 20, ¶ 12, 979 P.2d 317. The court found that the undisputed evidence favored the suppliers on the foreseeability and likelihood-of-injury factors, while the painter failed to present evidence addressing the remaining considerations, resulting in the dismissal of the negligence claim.

Warranty claims. To establish a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, a claimant must show that the product failed to satisfy one of the statutory standards of merchantability. Spencer v. Harley-Davidson, Inc., 2018 WL 3972925 (D. Utah Aug. 20, 2018). The man here provided no evidence establishing any such deficiency. Moreover, Utah law requires a claimant asserting a tort-based implied warranty claim to establish the elements of a strict products liability claim. Kirkbride v. Terex USA, LLC, 798 F.3d 1343, 1354 (10th Cir. 2015). Because the strict liability claim failed, the implied warranty claim necessarily failed as well. As for the breach of an express warranty claim, the man was required to show the existence of an express warranty forming part of the parties’ bargain, nonconformity with that warranty, a resulting dangerous condition, causation, injury, and foreseeable use. Spencer, 2018 WL 3972925, at *7. The court found no evidence that the manufacturer made any express warranty upon which the painter relied. Nor did the record contain evidence satisfying the remaining elements. Accordingly, this claim also failed and the court granted judgment for the suppliers.

The case is No. 2:25-cv-00128.

Judge: Pead, D.

Attorneys: S. Brook Millard (Feller & Wendt LLC) for James Hale. Blake A. Hallock (Jones Skelton & Hochuli PLC) for Gorilla Ladder Co.

Companies: Gorilla Ladder Co.

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