Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. v. Superior Court

The Supreme Court in Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 2 , 834 P.2d 696 ] and Ford v. Gouin (1992) 3 Cal.4th 339 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 30 , 834 P.2d 724 ] has recently outlined a set of rules for the proper application of the “assumption of risk” doctrine in negligence cases in light of California comparative fault principles. We are now required to apply those rules to causes of action sounding in strict products liability and breach of warranty. In this petition for writ of mandate, petitioner Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation (Milwaukee) (defendant in an action by plaintiff and real party in interest Lawrence Vondrasek for damages for personal injury on the theories of strict liability, breach of warranty, and negligence) argues it is entitled to extraordinary relief from the trial court’s order denying in part Milwaukee’s motion for summary adjudication. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (f).) The adjudication which Milwaukee sought would have established that its affirmative defense of reasonable implied assumption of the risk barred Vondrasek’s claims for strict products liability and breach of warranty, relating to the injuries he suffered while…