Amazon ‘Seller’ Liability to Be Argued in Texas Toddler’s Case

Amazon.com Inc. is set to tell the Texas Supreme Court Thursday that it’s not—and shouldn’t be—liable under state law for a toddler’s battery-ingestion injury, allegedly stemming from a product bought on the company’s web marketplace.

Whether Amazon is a “seller” of third parties’ marketplace products where it doesn’t hold title to them, but stores and ships them in fulfilling the order, is the question before the state high court.

Amazon’s business model is new, and prior Texas cases aren’t on point, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said when it sent the question to the supreme court. ...