REI shirks responsibility & appeals Monika Johnson case

The issues addressed in any lawsuit are often complex and sometimes, as is the case here, have broad impacts beyond just the parties. I’d like to stress that REI's appeal is not about the amount of money Monika's estate should receive through either a trial or a settlement. Instead, it is about the degree to which responsibility should be shared between a private label seller, like REI, and the manufacturer who designed and made the bike component.

Johnson v. R.E.I., in the Court of Appeals of the
State of Washington (Case No. 65463-2-I, February
7, 2011).

even though REI sells the Novara brand bike as its own, the member-owned co-op argued any alleged defects were the responsibility of the Taiwan manufacturers.

Imagine that your new No. 4 Camalot was defective, causing your partner to deck and Black Diamond said, "Not our problem. Go to China and sue the company we contracted with to build it."

I get the point you are trying to make but while Camalots are made in China they are still made by Black Diamond by BD employees in a factory BD owns. BD doesn't contract out the manufacturing process for hardware. BD wants to own the entire process to avoid contractors that cut corners, steal intellectual property, or sell lower quality/defective units on the black market (didn't that happen with Petzl?).