In a products liability suit arising out of personal injuries resulting from an allegedly defective remote control battery sold by ‘USA Shopping 7693’ on Amazon.com thru a program under which third parties pay Amazon a service fee to store and ship their products, the Fifth Circuit certified the following question to the Texas Supreme Court: “May Amazon be held liable as a ‘seller’ under Texas products-liability law for third-party products sold on Amazon’s website and handled through Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon program?”

The Supreme Court of Texas held that potentially liable sellers are limited to those to whom title of the product is relinquished at some point in the distribution chain.  Because third-party sellers do not relinquish title to their products, Amazon is not a “seller” of those products under Texas Law.

 

McMillan v. Amazon, 2 F.4th 525 (2021); based on:

Amazon.com v. McMillan, No.20-0979, 2021 WL 2605885 (Tex. June 25, 2021).