West Virginia Product Liability Lawyers

By J. Brandon Shumaker and J. Tyler Slavey  ·  Slavey & Shumaker PLLC  ·  Morgantown, WV  ·  Last updated November 12, 2026

People expect the products they use every day to be reasonably safe. When a vehicle part fails, a machine lacks a guard, an appliance catches fire or a product comes without an adequate warning, the injuries can be severe, including burns, amputations, spinal cord and brain injuries, or a death.

Slavey & Shumaker PLLC helps people injured by defective products and their families throughout the State of West Virginia, including Monongalia, Preston, Marion and Harrison Counties. For other life-changing injuries, see our serious injury page, our spinal cord injury page and our burn injury page.

1. What Is a Product Liability Claim

A product liability claim seeks compensation from the companies that made or sold a product for injuries the product caused. In Morningstar v. Black & Decker Manufacturing Co., 253 S.E.2d 666 (W. Va. 1979), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia adopted strict liability in tort for defective products. The Court explained that strict liability is designed to relieve the injured person from proving that the manufacturer was negligent in some particular fashion, and to permit proof of the defective condition of the product as the principal basis of liability. The general test is whether the product is defective in the sense that it is “not reasonably safe for its intended use.” Under that standard, reasonable safeness is measured by what a reasonably prudent manufacturer’s standards should have been at the time the product was made.

2. Types of Product Defects

In Morningstar, the Court recognized that a defective product may fall into three broad categories, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive: “design defectiveness; structural defectiveness; and use defectiveness arising out of the lack of, or the inadequacy of, warnings, instructions and labels.”

3. Strict Liability, Negligence and Warranty

A product injury case may be brought on more than one legal theory, depending on the facts:

A seller’s warranty extends to people in the buyer’s family or household and guests in the buyer’s home who are injured in person, if it is reasonable to expect that they may use, consume or be affected by the goods (§ 46-2-318). For goods in a consumer transaction, a claim for breach of warranty or negligence does not fail because the consumer did not buy directly from the company being sued (§ 46A-6-108(a)), and a merchant generally may not exclude or limit the implied warranties or the remedies provided by law (§ 46A-6-107(a)).

4. Who May Be Responsible

Identifying every company in the chain of manufacture and sale, and their insurers, is one of the first steps in a product case.

5. Limits on Claims Against Sellers

West Virginia limits strict liability product claims against sellers that did not make the product. Under W. Va. Code § 55-7-31, a product liability action may not be maintained against a seller unless one of the listed exceptions applies, including when the seller:

• Had actual knowledge of the defect that caused the harm (§ 55-7-31(b)(1))
• Exercised substantial control over the design, manufacture, labeling, warnings or instructions that caused the harm (§ 55-7-31(b)(2))
• Altered, modified or installed the product in a way the manufacturer did not authorize, and that caused the harm (§ 55-7-31(b)(3))
• Made its own express warranty that the product failed to meet (§ 55-7-31(b)(4))
• Failed to use reasonable care in assembling, maintaining, storing, transporting or repairing the product, or removed or failed to pass on the manufacturer’s labels, warnings or instructions (§ 55-7-31(b)(6), (7))
• Repackaged the product or put its own brand name or label on it, subject to an exception for a seller that discloses the actual manufacturer and did not exercise substantial control (§ 55-7-31(b)(9))

A seller can also be sued when the manufacturer cannot be identified despite a good-faith effort, is not subject to service of process under West Virginia law, or is insolvent, or when the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that a judgment against the manufacturer could not be enforced (§ 55-7-31(b)(10) to (13)). Other exceptions cover resold products whose condition had changed and sellers that are controlled subsidiaries of the manufacturer, or the reverse (§ 55-7-31(b)(5), (8)). The section applies to products sold on or after the effective date of the 2017 law that enacted it (§ 55-7-31(c)).

Different rules apply to warning claims about prescription drugs and medical devices, where the claimant must prove, among other elements, that the manufacturer or seller acted unreasonably in failing to give reasonable warnings or instructions to prescribing or other health care providers (W. Va. Code § 55-7-30(a)).

6. Common Defective Products

7. Preserving the Product and Evidence

Product cases are won and lost on the physical evidence. If you were hurt by a product:

• Keep the product. Do not throw it away, repair it, return it to the store or send it to the manufacturer
• Keep the packaging, manuals, warnings, receipts and any parts that broke off
• Photograph the product, the scene and your injuries
• Write down where and when you bought the product and how you were using it
• Ask in writing that anyone else who has the product or related records, such as an employer, landlord or repair shop, keep them unchanged

A lawyer can arrange for a qualified engineer or other expert to examine the product without destroying the evidence.

8. Product Use and Comparative Fault

Manufacturers often argue that the injured person misused the product. In Morningstar, the Court explained that the intended use of a product includes all those uses a reasonably prudent person might make of it, having in mind its characteristics, warnings and labels. You can recover as long as your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of everyone else responsible, and your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault (W. Va. Code § 55-7-13c(c)). West Virginia generally holds each defendant liable only for its own percentage of fault (§ 55-7-13c(a)).

9. Compensation

When punitive damages are allowed, the plaintiff must prove the required conduct by clear and convincing evidence, and the award may not exceed the greater of four times the compensatory damages or $500,000 (W. Va. Code § 55-7-29(a), (c)). When a defective product causes a death, the family’s claim is governed by the wrongful death statute; see our wrongful death page.

10. Defective Products at Work

An employer that is in compliance with the workers’ compensation law is generally immune from suit for an employee’s injury (W. Va. Code § 23-2-6). But receiving workers’ compensation does not prevent a claim against a third party, such as the manufacturer of a defective machine or tool (§ 23-2A-1(a)). Slavey & Shumaker PLLC does not handle workers’ compensation or deliberate intent claims directly. We refer those claims to, and co-counsel with, other firms that handle the majority of that work. We can review whether you also have a claim against a third party, which is the part of the case we handle. See our workplace injury guide and our factory and industrial accident page.

11. Deadlines

A child’s claim generally may be brought within the same period after the child turns 18, but never more than 20 years after the right accrues (§ 55-2-15(b)). When a deadline starts can depend on the facts, so confirm it early. See our West Virginia filing deadlines guide.

12. Why Choose Slavey & Shumaker PLLC

Our attorneys, J. Tyler Slavey, J. Brandon Shumaker, Scott B. Harris and Kasey Libby, move quickly to preserve the product and the evidence, identify every company in the chain of manufacture and sale, work with qualified experts when needed, and pursue full compensation for future needs as well as past losses. No lawyer can guarantee a result. You can read what past clients say in our more than 100 Google reviews.

13. Frequently Asked Questions About Product Liability

This page is provided for general informational purposes about West Virginia law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.