Troja v. Black & Decker Manufacturing Co

62 Md. App. 101 (1985)

Facts

Troja (P) accidentally amputated his thumb while operating a radial saw manufactured by Black and Decker (D). The saw was designed so that the guide fence was easily removable thus allowing parties to use the unit by guiding the wood with their bare hand. The absence of this safety feature that would prevent the saw from running when the fence was not in place rendered the product unreasonably dangerous. P sued D, and the judge granted a motion for a directed verdict on the defective design portion of P's strict liability count; P failed to produce any legally sufficient evidence of the economic feasibility of a proposed alternative radial arm saw design or the existence of such technology when the particular saw was manufactured in 1976.