The NAM filed an amicus brief in the Texas Supreme Court to seek reversal of a Texas appellate court decision that improperly imposed liability on a manufacturer for its alleged failure to adequately warn of risks from one of its commercial air conditioners. An experienced HVAC repairman was injured when an HVAC compressor released pressurized fluids. The repairman sued the manufacturer, claiming the warning of such releases was insufficiently descriptive. A Texas jury found in the plaintiff’s favor, and an appeals court affirmed. In support of review by the Texas Supreme Court, the NAM filed an amicus brief that argued against the court of appeals’ unsupported expansion of the duty of a manufacturer to warn licensed professionals of known risks. The NAM’s brief also asks the court to clarify the jury instructions in failure-to-warn cases such as this.
The court granted review in June 2020. On April 16, 2021, the court affirmed the jury verdict, however the court took a giant leap forward by agreeing with NAM and Emerson's position that a jury in a design-defect case can be instructed on the five risk-utility balancing factors commonly used in other jurisdictions. The court failed to address the court of appeals’ unsupported expansion of the duty of a manufacturer to warn licensed professionals of known risks, deeming the issue waived based on Emerson's failure to object to a particular jury instruction. The NAM filed an amicus brief in support of Emerson's petition for rehearing on that issue, arguing that the court should have requested supplemental briefing before disposing of a case on an issue not raised or briefed by the parties.
Unfortunately, on September 3, 2021, the Texas Supreme Court denied the petition for rehearing.