GALVESTON – A marine dealership sued last month for allegedly selling a sport fishing boat that bore faulty equipment to a Matagorda County couple recently countered the litigation.
Galveston County District Court records show that Ron Hoover Marine, Inc. filed an original answer to Larry and Lisa Land’s product liability lawsuit on Mar. 13.
As previously reported in The Southeast Texas Record, the petitioners claim that the $200,000 vessel “did not conform to the usual standards of completion, safety, and suitability.” The suit adds that all electronic components were “inoperable, failed erratically, and the overhead compartment was not sealed – allowing water intrusion onto portions of the equipment.”
In its 6-page formal response, Ron Hoover asserts that it has “no liability as a non-manufacturing seller.”
“Hoover did not manufacture the boat which is the subject of this lawsuit; Hoover merely sold the boat as a pass-through retailer,” the document explains.
The defendant states that it “shielded from liability under Texas law.”
Christopher J. Lowman of The Lowman Law Firm in Houston is representing Ron Hoover.
Galveston County 56th District Court Case No. 19-CV-0221