Little Bo Peep's Fiery Sheep

For Halloween, rather than discuss any of the various litigation over candy (e.g., the litigation over Skittles or "slack fill" in packages), we are going to travel back to 1984 to look at what a mishap with a sheep costume says about how consumer expectations can affect liability from Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson, 983 F.2d 1066 (6th Cir. 1992) (Table).

That year, Frank Ferlito attended a Halloween party dressed as a sheep. His wife, who made the sheep costume, went as Little Bo Peep. During the party, Mr. Ferlito attempted to light a cigarette (this was 1984, so smoking was much more prevalent) and accidentally caught his costume on fire, resulting in burns to one-third of his body that required several surgeries. The Ferlitos sued Johnson & Johnson, which made the cotton batting Mrs. Ferlito had used to make the costume, under a failure to warn theory, and a jury awarded the Ferlitos $620,000.