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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1565
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR FITZWATER.
6776S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 537.765, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
determinations of fault in products liability claims.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 537.765, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 537.765, 2
to read as follows:3
537.765. 1. Contributory fault, as a complete bar to 1
plaintiff's recovery in a products liability claim, is 2
abolished. The doctrine of pure comparative fault shall 3
apply to products liability claims as provided in this 4
section. 5
2. Defendant may plead and prove the fault of the 6
plaintiff or any other person or entity as an affirmative 7
defense in any product liability claim, including all strict 8
liability claims. Any fault chargeable to the plaintiff or 9
any other person or entity shall diminish proportionately 10
the amount awarded as compensatory damages but shall not bar 11
recovery. 12
3. For purposes of this section, the term "fault" [is 13
limited to: 14
(1) The failure to use the product as reasonably 15
anticipated by the manufacturer; 16
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(2) Use of the product for a purpose not intended by 17
the manufacturer; 18
(3) Use of the product with knowledge of a danger 19
involved in such use with reasonable appreciation of the 20
consequences and the voluntary and unreasonable exposure to 21
said danger; 22
(4) Unreasonable failure to appreciate the danger 23
involved in use of the product or the consequences thereof 24
and the unreasonable exposure to said danger; 25
(5) The failure to undertake the precautions a 26
reasonably careful user of the product would take to protect 27
himself against dangers which he would reasonably appreciate 28
under the same or similar circumstances; or 29
(6) The failure to mitigate damages] means any 30
actionable breach of legal duty or act or omission 31
proximately causing or contributing to cause in any way the 32
accident or harm for which recovery of damages is sought, 33
including negligence in all of its degrees, comparative 34
negligence, assumption of risk, strict liability, breach of 35
express or implied warranty of a product, products 36
liability, and misuse, modification, or abuse of a product. 37
4. In a product liability claim, the liability of each 38
defendant for damages is several only and is not joint. 39
Each defendant is liable only for the amount of damages 40
allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that 41
defendant's percentage of fault. 42
5. In assessing the percentages of fault, the trier of 43
fact shall consider the fault of all persons or entities who 44
contributed to the accident or harm, regardless of whether 45
the person or entity was, or could have been, named as a 46
party to the suit. The relative degree of fault of the 47
plaintiff, and the relative degrees of fault of all 48
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defendants and nonparties, shall be determined and 49
apportioned as a whole at one time by the trier of fact. 50
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