Question: Neal, a twelve-year old boy, buys a pair of skis from Outdoor Outfitters (“OO”). He tells the salesperson that he has never been skiing but “he really wants to do it.” The OO salesperson urges Neal to take a lesson in the sport before participating in a run. Neal ignores this advice. On his first run down the intermediate slope he loses control and runs into a tree.
He suffers a broken leg, assorted cuts and bruises and he has concussion symptoms. Neal’s parents file a lawsuit against OO alleging that it should not have sold the skis to him when he was clearly too young and inexperienced. Discuss the theory of liability upon which the lawsuit is based and what, if any, defenses OO may raise.