Problem
Read and analyze the following fact situation. Identify all tort claims, defenses or other issues that these facts raise and discuss whether you think each potential claimant will be successful or not. Be sure to explain your reasoning.
The house fire was a big deal in the town and was front page news in the town newspaper. Fred, the owner of Coffee World, a gourmet coffee shop that sold both coffee and coffee machines, read about the fire and wondered if Dan's coffee machine was a factor. Fred wondered this because he remembered selling a coffee machine to Dan recently, and it was a model that twenty other customers at Coffee World had returned after purchasing it, claiming that their machines had seriously overheated when left for extended periods of time. Fred had processed all of those returned coffee machines for customer refunds, but had not told BevCo, the manufacturer of the coffee machine, about the returns because it would require Fred to fill out extensive paperwork in order to get the manufacturer to reimburse him.