Grant v Australian Knitting Mills [1936] AC 85

Material Facts:

The claimant bought underwear from the defendant for his use and suffered skin irritation and eventually dermatitis after wearing them. Per the defendants, the underwear was supposed to be washed before being worn, but this information was not provided to the plaintiff or contained on the underwear.

Issue:

Whether or not the defendants owed a duty of care to consumers.

Holding:

The defendants owed a duty of care to consumers.

Ratio Decidendi:

Lord Wright in delivering the judgement of the Privy Council stated that:

A manufacturer of products, which he sells in such a form as to show that he intends them to reach the ultimate consumer in the form in which they left him with no reasonable possibility of intermediate examination, and with the knowledge that the absence of reasonable care in the preparation or putting up of the products will result in an injury to the consumer's life or property, owes a duty to the consumer to take that reasonable care

Thus, the fact that manufacturers ought to know that their failure to take reasonable care in creating their products will result in injury to consumers, imposed a duty on the manufacturer to take reasonable care to avert such potential injury.