Richard Imry Case

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

The plaintiff, Richard Albert Imry, is a small business owner who, with his two adult sons, co-plaintiffs Max and Mathias, operates an auto body repair shop located in a garage adjacent to his house. The defendant, Western Generator Co. (“WGC”) is a large-scale manufacturer and distributor of generators, which they advertise for personal, business, and industrial application. To combat the loss of profits caused by frequent weather-related power outages, Richard purchased a Western Generator Company 17,500 Watt Electric Start Portable Generator from WGC’s online store. Before accepting the terms and completing the order, Richard noticed a hyperlink reading, “PLEASE CLICK TO SEE OUR IMPORTANT WARRANTY POLICY.” Due to his technological naivety and old fashioned business savvy, Richard relied on the hyperlink’s language and the website’s advertising to conclude the product was suitable for personal and small business application and included an “important warranty policy.”
Due to a manufacturer known defect in the fuel line, which caused gasoline to leak onto the extremely hot exhaust manifold, the generator caused a fire. This fire not only destroyed Richard’s home and business, but also caused severe injuries to Max and Mathias. Now, Richard and his sons seek relief from these harms based on the implied warranty of merchantability which WGC claims to have waived by their disguised disclaimer. In this motion, the Imry’s seek summary judgment determining that the warranty disclaimer on WGC’s website was invalid and unenforceable as well as the denial of the defendant’s motion for summary