Barker v. Allied Supermarket
596 P.2d 870 (1979)
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Rule of Law:
Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a contract for the sale of goods is formed when a customer in a self-service establishment takes possession of an item from the shelf with the intent to purchase it. This contract, formed prior to payment, includes an implied warranty of merchantability from both the retailer and the manufacturer of food and drink products.
Facts:
- Plaintiff was shopping in a self-service grocery store owned by Allied Super Market.
- Plaintiff selected a carton of Dr. Pepper soda, which was bottled by Dr. Pepper Bottling Co.
- He took the carton from the display shelf with the intention of purchasing it.
- While attempting to place the carton into his shopping cart, one of the glass bottles exploded.
- A fragment of glass struck Plaintiff in the right eye, causing a ninety percent permanent loss of vision.
Procedural Posture:
- Plaintiff filed a lawsuit in an Oklahoma trial court against Allied Super Market (retailer) and Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. (bottler) for negligence and breach of implied warranty.
- The suit was filed two years and one day after the date of injury.
- The trial court sustained the defendants' demurrers (motions to dismiss), holding that the action sounded in tort and was barred by the two-year statute of limitations.
- Plaintiff appealed the dismissal.
- An intermediate Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's judgment as to the retailer but affirmed the dismissal as to the bottler.
- The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.
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Issue:
Does a contract for sale, which gives rise to an implied warranty of merchantability under the Uniform Commercial Code, arise when a customer takes an item from a self-service display with the intent to purchase it, even before payment is made?
Opinions:
Majority - Williams, Justice
Yes. A contract for sale, giving rise to an implied warranty of merchantability, arises when a customer takes an item from a self-service shelf with the intent to pay for it. The court reasoned that under the flexible standards of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a merchant's act of placing goods on a self-service display constitutes an offer. A customer's act of taking physical possession of the goods is a reasonable manner of accepting that offer, creating a 'contract for sale' under UCC § 2-106. This contract exists even though the customer can still change their mind and return the item. The UCC de-emphasizes the formal passage of title, focusing instead on the parties' rights and obligations. Therefore, the implied warranty of merchantability (§ 2-314), which includes the requirement that goods be 'adequately contained,' attaches at the moment of acceptance, before payment. The court also held that Oklahoma's pre-UCC common law, which eliminated the privity requirement for food and drink, supplements the UCC, extending this warranty from the bottler (Dr. Pepper) to the ultimate consumer (Plaintiff).
Analysis:
This decision clarifies that for purposes of the UCC, a 'contract for sale' in a self-service retail context is formed at the moment a customer takes an item from a shelf, not at the later point of payment. This ruling extends warranty protections to customers who are injured by defective products while still shopping in the store. It rejects a formalistic view of contract formation based on title transfer, embracing the UCC's more practical, conduct-based approach. Furthermore, the decision affirms that for food and drink, the implied warranty of merchantability can extend vertically from the manufacturer to the consumer, bypassing traditional privity requirements.
