Miele v. American Tobacco Co

In Miele v. American Tobacco Co., 2 A.D.3d 799, [2d Dept 2003], the court held that, "the determination of whether a design defect is actionable requires a balancing of the risks and utilities of the product, with the consumer's degree of awareness of the product's potential danger being but one factor to consider in that analysis," (Miele v. American Tobacco Co., supra, 3, citing Scarangella v. Thomas Built Buses, 93 N.Y.2d 655, 717 N.E.2d 679, 695 N.Y.S.2d 520 [1999]; Restatement [Third] of Torts, Products Liability 2, Comment G). The Miele court reversed the lower court's grant of summary judgment in the defendant tobacco manufacturers' favor solely on consumer expectation grounds and reinstated the post-1969 design defect claims.