Case 13-4 provides another illustration of the importance of criteria selection in determining the outcome of a case. When Sperry–New Holland appealed the case, it did not focus on the facts or on the court’s conclusion. Instead, the appeal focused on the test used by the court to decide the case. The defendant’s appeal presumed that if the consumerexpectations test had been used instead of the risk-utility analysis, the decision likely would have been different. The questions that follow will help you to think more critically about the court’s decision to use risk-utility analysis in Case 13-4.
1. To demonstrate your awareness of the guiding power of ethical norms, identify the primary ethical norm that would lead to the use of risk-utility analysis. Clue: To answer this question, you may want to reread the court’s discussion of each test.
2. In Case 13-4, the court selects risk-utility analysis as the test to apply in making its decision. What are its reasons for making this selection? Clue: You know the court’s holding. Every group of sentences that answers the question, “Why is that the holding?†provides a reason.
