Plaintiffs like David Ryan will likely have no cement mixer manufacturer to sue. Ryan v. Smith, 2010 WL 743946, No. 06-5866 (D.N.J. Mar. 4, 2010) centers around asset sales and their effects on successor liability. Ryan worked as a driver on a cement truck. He suffered injury on December 2, 2003 when the ladder on his 1988 Rex 770 cement mixer detached from the truck while occupied by Ryan. The Rex 770 was manufactured by Rexworks, Inc., and, prior to Ryan’s injury, the assets of Rexworks underwent two different sales. First, Rexworks sold its name and cement mixer designs, along with other assets to TEMCO pursuant to agreement. The Agreement provided that no liabilities outside those named in the agreement were assumed by TEMCO, and TEMCO took possession of the assets in June 2000. TEMCO asserted that it was mainly interested in a transmission manufactured by Rexworks, which had an excellent reputation in the industry, for incorporation in its own products. After a few months, TEMCO sold the assets of its cement mixer business to Oshkosh Truck Corporation, and, again, all liabilities of TEMCO were excluded from the asset purchase. On March 6, 2001, the date of the Oshkosh purchase, “the Rex product line was no longer being manufactured by anyone.” Id.

Ryan wanted someone to be liable for his ladder-based injury, and, obviously, TEMCO and Oshkosh didn’t agree to assume any liabilities. The District of New Jersey applied New Jersey’s substantive law:

Ramirez v. Amsted Indus., Inc., 431 A.2d 811, 825 (N.J. 1981). Even though TEMCO and Oshkosh continued to manufacture dump trucks, the Rex line of dump trucks was essentially discontinued. Ryan argued that the evidence showed that TEMCO had incorporated the use of the Rex transmission in its products, which was sufficient to show the continued manufacture of the product line. Had Ryan been injured by the transmission, this argument may have won the day, but Ryan was injured by the ladder, for which there was no evidence of continued manufacture.