Almost 130,000 euros in compensation for bar owner in Spain who lost an eye after beer bottle exploded

The brewery had argued that the bottle could have exploded for reasons for which it was not responsible, such as transport, the way it was stored by the distributor and even the handling by the injured person himself

Susana Zamora

Malaga

Monday, 18 December 2023, 17:16

Spain's Supreme Court has awarded compensation of almost 130,000 euros for the owner of a bar who lost an eye when a beer bottle exploded. The court considered that this was an "unusual" event, the consequences of which must be compensated even if the company responsible did not act "recklessly".

The freak incident took place in August 2015, when one of the bottles of beer that had just been delivered to the bar owner in a crate exploded. A glass fragment hit him in the eye, which he ended up losing.

The man claimed 152,877.12 euros in civil liability from the brewery, but the company refused to pay up, arguing that the product was not defective because it had passed all the quality controls. The company argued that the bottle could have exploded for reasons for which it was not responsible, such as transport, the way it was stored by the distributor and even the handling by the injured person himself.

Initially, a court in Barcelona ruled in favour of the brewery, rejecting the man's claim, considering that "there are doubts as to how the explosion occurred" without proving "imprudent action" on the part of the company. A report stated that "the accident occurred when washing some bottles".

The owner of the bar appealed and the Barcelona High Court ruled it was a legal problem in the civil liability sphere for defective products, "which dispenses with the fault or negligence of the manufacturer or importer", based on the liability derived from the "damage caused by products due to the lack of safety that can be expected". It set the civil liability compensation at 127,927.12 euros.

The provincial court added that, according to three witnesses, the injured man was eating at the same table as a regular customer when the beer delivery man arrived. He got up to serve him, the delivery man left the crate of beer on the bar and the owner picked it up and put it on top of the cooler.

The second court pointed out that a beer bottle “should not explode just because it was washed under a tap", and concluded that this was "an unusual and anomalous explosion".

Not satisfied with that second judgement, the brewery turned to the Supreme Court, which agreed with the Barcelona High Court, ruling that damages arising from personal injury caused by a defective product, to a person acting for a purpose which is part of his trade, business, trade or profession, are compensable.

The Supreme Court explained that the legal issue to be resolved is the applicable regime to the case. The brewery argued that it was the general non-contractual liability regime set out in the Civil Code, and that the European directive for the defence of consumers and users could not be used by analogy, which would require proving guilty conduct in order to award compensation.

The Supreme Court noted that while the applicable laws are aimed at consumers and users, "it does not exclude coverage of personal damages suffered by those who use the defective product in the framework of a professional or business activity".

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