## Facts

- Three consolidated actions alleged strict products liability against Bock Laundry Machine Company, manufacturer of a centrifuge extractor used in residential and commercial laundry facilities.
- Each plaintiff was a remote user (not the purchaser) injured while using the extractor in an ordinary manner.
- The machines were sold years before the injuries: 1948 sale/1969 injury; 1959 sale/1967 injury; 1955 sale/1965 injury.
- Bock asserted the claims were time-barred because limitations should run from the date of sale or delivery, given the long lapse between sale and injury.
- The Appellate Division rejected Bock’s limitations defense on pleadings motions, and Bock appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a strict products liability claim by a remote user accrues at the date of injury or at the date of sale/delivery for statute of limitations purposes under CPLR 214(4)–(5).
2. Whether prior precedent tying accrual to sale in a warranty context should control strict products liability claims, and if so, whether that precedent should be overruled as to strict liability.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the rulings that the strict products liability claims were timely.
- The court held that a strict products liability cause of action accrues at the time of injury, not at sale or delivery.
- The court held the applicable limitations period is three years under CPLR 214(4)–(5) (property damage and personal injury).
- The court overruled prior case law to the extent it required sale-based accrual for strict products liability claims.

## Legal Principles

- In New York, strict products liability is treated as a tort-type claim for limitations purposes; accrual occurs when the injury is sustained.
- Strict products liability actions for personal injury or property damage are governed by the three-year limitations period in CPLR 214(4)–(5).
- Sale-based accrual rules applicable to contract or warranty theories do not control strict products liability accrual.
- Prior authority requiring sale-based accrual is overruled insofar as it conflicts with injury-based accrual in strict products liability cases.

## Conclusion

The court held that strict products liability claims accrue on the date of injury and are timely if commenced within three years under CPLR 214(4)–(5), rejecting (and overruling to the extent inconsistent) any rule that would start the limitations period at sale or delivery.


Victorson v. Bock Laundry Mach. Co., 37 N.Y.2d 395 (N.Y. 1975)