Products liability doctrine holds a manufacturer, or other party involved in selling a product, strictly liable when an article, placed into the market with knowledge that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes a personal injury. Consumers who are injured because of a fault with a product that the consumers had no ability to protect themselves against may recover against the manufacturer under a theory of products liability.
Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and the commercial center of the town. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census designated place identified as Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode Island. The Wakefield village center along Main Street between Belmont Avenue and Columbia Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as Wakefield Historic District. The district is significant for being an early commercial and industrial center. The district includes 53 properties over an area of 400 acres and also includes Kenyon's Department Store, which is separately listed on the National Register.