Amazon Not Liable for Defective Products Under Ohio Law (1)

Amazon.com Inc. can’t be held liable for a teenager’s death from caffeine powder sold on its online marketplace because it didn’t exert enough control over the product under state law, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The company consequently doesn’t fit the definition of a supplier under the Ohio Product Liability Act, the state high court said in the first ruling by any state top court to address Amazon’s potential liability for products sold by third parties on its website. One justice concurred in the judgment only.

Amazon’s actions didn’t involve as much control as other conduct—the sale, distribution, lease, ...