Okla. Stat. tit. 12A § 2-318

Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.

Section 2-318 - Third Party Beneficiaries of Warranties Express or Implied

(1) A seller's warranty whether express or implied extends to any natural person who is in the family or household of his buyer or who is a guest in his home if it is reasonable to expect that such person may use, consume or be affected by the goods and who is injured in person by breach of the warranty.

(2) This section does not displace principles of law and equity that extend a warranty to or for the benefit of a buyer to other persons.

(3) The operation of this section may not be excluded, modified, or limited by a seller, but an exclusion, modification, or limitation of the warranty, including any with respect to rights and remedies, effective against the buyer is also effective against any beneficiary designated under this section.

Okla. Stat. tit. 12A, § 2-318

Laws 1961, p.83, § 2-318; Amended by Laws 1988, HB 1683, c. 86, § 83, eff. 11/1/1988.

Oklahoma Code Comment

Oklahoma has heretofore but once denied recovery for want of privily, that in a case in which the resale was not in the usual commercial channels. In Walrus Manufacturing Co. v. McMehen, 36 Okl. 667, 136 P. 772, 51 L.R.A.,N.S., 1111 (1913) the manufacturer sold a soda fountain to the owner of a drug store, who then sold it to another. The court held that the sub-purchaser could not benefit by the warranties made to the original purchaser.

In G. M. C. Truck Co. v. Kelley, 105 Okl. 84, 231 P. 882 (1924) the Oklahoma court said that a warranty of merchantability was implied in the sale of a new truck, "whether the sale be made by a manufacturer or by a retailer." All other previous Oklahoma cases involving privily have been food cases, in which the Oklahoma court used very broad language. In Cook v. Safeway Stores, Inc., Okl., 330 P.2d 375 (1958) the plaintiff sued for the medical expenses necessitated by the illness of his two sons caused by deleterious foods sold by the defendant. The court said: "Unquestionably the general rule, as well as the rule adopted by this court, is that where a dealer sells food for immediate human consumption, purchaser may rely on implied warranty that such food is wholesome and not deleterious, and in the event he sustains injury from the consumption thereof he may maintain his cause of action upon such implied warranty. This implied warranty in favor of the consumer in such a case extends to the manufacturer, packer, processor and each intermediate dealer as well as the retail seller." In Southwest Ice & Dairy Products Co. v. Faulkenberry. 203 Okl. 279, 220 P.2d 257, 17 A.L.R.2d 1373 (1950) the court said: "A manufacturer or processor of food products under modern conditions impliedly warrants his goods when dispensed in the original packages bottles. and warranty is available to all who may be damaged by their use in the legitimate channels of trade, including those who purchase them for resale." See also Griffin v. Asbury, 196 Okl. 484, 165 P.2d 822 (1946).