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Products Liability Keyed to Fischer, 6th Ed.
Keller v. Welles Department Store of Racine
Citation:
88 Wis. 2d 24, 276 N.W.2d 319 (1979)Facts
On October 21, 1971, two-and-a-half-year-old Stephen Keller was playing with two-year-old William Sperry in the basement of the Sperry home. The boys were playing with a gasoline can that had been filled with gasoline by William’s father. The can was manufactured by Huffman Manufacturing Company and purchased at Welles Department Store. While playing near a gas furnace and hot water heater, gasoline that the children had poured from the can was ignited, causing Stephen Keller to suffer severe burns. Although Mrs. Sperry was home, the children were unsupervised at the time of the accident. The plaintiff originally sued several parties, including the home builder and manufacturers of the hot water heater and furnace, but those actions were settled. The remaining defendants were Huffman, Welles, and Mrs. Sperry. The plaintiff alleged that the gasoline can was defective and unreasonably dangerous because it lacked a child-proof cap.
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