The Illinois Supreme Court has affirmed a decision allowing a food distributor to proceed with a breach of warranty claim against two produce wholesalers, holding that the wholesalers had sufficient notice of the alleged product defect through existing personal injury lawsuits.
The case stems from multiple personal injury suits filed by restaurant patrons who became ill after consuming contaminated cilantro. The restaurants had purchased the cilantro from Martin Produce, Inc., which had sourced it from Jack Tuchten Wholesale Produce, Inc. and La Galera Produce, Inc.
In response to the lawsuits, Martin filed a third-party complaint for contribution against the wholesalers, alleging a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The issue before the court was whether Martin had met its obligation under the UCC to notify the wholesalers of the alleged breach.
The Circuit Court of Cook County granted summary judgment in favor of the wholesalers, finding that Martin had failed to provide direct notice of its claim, as required by the UCC. On appeal, however, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed, concluding that both wholesalers had actual knowledge of the alleged contamination and defect through the lawsuits in which they were named as defendants.
The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court’s ruling. The Court held that the wholesalers’ inclusion as defendants in the underlying personal injury litigation provided them with actual notice of the specific transactions and alleged defect. As a result, Martin was not required to provide additional formal notice of the warranty claim.
The matter was remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings on Martin’s complaint for breach of implied warranty of merchantability.
View the full opinion: Andrews v. Carbon on 26th, LLC on Justia Law (Docket No. 129331)
