Price v. Blaine Kern Artista, Inc.

893 P.2d 367 · Nevada Supreme Court · 1995

Facts

Thomas Price, an entertainer at Harrah's Club in Reno, was injured while wearing a large George Bush caricature mask manufactured by Blaine Kern Artista, Inc. (BKA) when he was pushed or fell. Price alleged the mask was defective due to the absence of a safety harness, and the district court granted summary judgment for BKA, ruling the patron's push was an unforeseeable superseding cause.

Issue

Did the district court err in granting summary judgment by finding that a third-party push was an unforeseeable superseding cause, thereby absolving the manufacturer of liability in strict products liability and negligence claims?

Holding

The court reversed the district court's entry of summary judgment, concluding that genuine issues of material fact remained regarding the legal and proximate cause of Price's injuries, precluding summary disposition.

Rule

Summary judgment is inappropriate when material factual issues exist. In negligence, an intervening intentional act by a third party does not sever proximate causation if reasonably foreseeable. In strict products liability, a product defect is a legal cause if it was a substantial factor in the injury, and an intervening cause is superseding only if the harm is beyond the risk foreseeable to the manufacturer.

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Case brief last reviewed 2026-01-08. Prepared by CaseReader from the published opinion.