Title: Halvorson v. American Hoist & Derrick Co.

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

240 N.W.2d 303 (1976) Kenneth HALVORSON, Respondent, v. AMERICAN HOIST AND DERRICK COMPANY, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, Appellant. MACHINERY INVESTMENT CORPORATION, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. BARTON CONTRACTING COMPANY, Third-Party Defendant, Respondent. No. 44705. Supreme Court of Minnesota. January 23, 1976. *304 Faegre & Benson and James Fitzmaurice and Joseph M. Price, Minneapolis, for appellant. Abrams & Spector, and Mitchell R. Spector, Minneapolis (for Halvorson) Jardine, Logan & O'Brien and Michael J. Healey, St. Paul (for Barton Contracting Co.), for respondents. Heard before SHERAN, C. J., and OTIS, KELLY and TODD, JJ., and considered and decided by the court en banc. KELLY, Justice. Defendant American Hoist and Derrick Company appeals from an order of the district court denying its post-trial motion following a jury verdict finding American Hoist 25-percent causally negligent and plaintiff's employer, Barton Contracting Company, 75 percent causally negligent. The district court denied American Hoist's third-party claims of indemnity and contribution against Barton. We hold that American Hoist was not negligent as a matter of law, and we therefore do not reach other issues it raised. On June 7, 1968, plaintiff, Kenneth Halvorson, was employed by Barton on a highway construction crew which was surfacing a rural highway turn lane near Duluth. The surfacing was accomplished by pouring concrete from a portable mixer and leveling it with a machine called a screed. A screed consists of two steel boards approximately 12 feet by 8 feet by 6 inches. The screed was moved from place to place on the site of a flatbed truck or lowboy. It was lifted in and out of the lowboy by a Model 395BT truck crane manufactured by American Hoist. Halvorson was on his hands and knees finishing a portion of the highway surface by hand when he noticed that the truck crane, holding the screed, had moved close to him. As the crane was lowering the screed to the highway surface, the screed began to sway back and forth and toward a water truck parked alongside it. In an effort to steady the screed and prevent it from striking the truck, Halvorson stood up and grabbed the screed with both hands. At that time the lifting cable attached to the crane boom contacted a 7,000-volt power line, and Halvorson received a severe *305 shock as electricity was transmitted down the cable and through the screed. Halvorson received workmen's compensation benefits from his employer Barton and brought this third-party action against American Hoist. He contended that the absence of certain safety devices from the crane, notably (1) a sensor device which would allegedly sound a warning if the boom approached a power line, and (2) an insulated hook which would allegedly prevent an electrical charge in the lifting cable from passing down the cable and into the load, constituted negligence and strict liability under Restatement, Torts 2d, § 402A. There was conflicting expert testimony and experimental evidence as to the effectiveness of these devices in preventing electrocution. Albert Shanyo, the Barton foreman who was hand signaling the operator of the crane at the time of the accident, testified that although he had observed the power lines earlier, his attention was directed to the screed as he was signaling and he did not notice that the lifting cable had contacted the line until after the accident had occurred. Plaintiff Halvorson testified that he knew power lines could be expected along country roads and were dangerous. He further testified that although it was his usual practice to check for power lines, he did not do so on this occasion. He agreed that no one had to tell him that he could be electrocuted if the boom or lifting cable of the crane came in contact with a power line while he was holding the load. One of the exhibits introduced by American Hoist was its Operator's Instruction Manual. The first page of that manual contains the explicit instruction: "N. Do not maintain less than 6 feet of clearance around high voltage lines." A copy of that page accompanies this opinion. The jury returned a verdict finding no strict liability, but finding 25-percent causal negligence on the part of American Hoist and 75. percent on the part of Barton. Plaintiff was found negligent, but his negligence was found not to be a cause of his injuries. We set forth the verdict of the jury in full: The trial court denied American Hoist's claim for equitable[1] or contractual[2] indemnity or contribution[3] from Barton and entered judgment on the verdict against American Hoist for the full amount of plaintiff's damages. The jury found that American Hoist was not strictly liable because of the absence of safety devices on its crane, but held it 25-percent negligent for failing to install those devices. As to strict liability, the jury was instructed in part: This instruction is in accord with 4 Hetland & Adamson, Minnesota Practice, Jury Instruction Guides (2 ed.) JIG II 118, and our decisions in McCormack v. Hankscraft Co. Inc., 278 Minn. 322, 154 N.W.2d 488 (1967) (in which we adopted Restatement, Torts 2d, § 402A); Magnuson v. Rupp Mfg. Inc., 285 Minn. 32, 171 N.W.2d 201 (1969); and Waite v. American Creosote Works, Inc., 295 Minn. 288, 204 N.W.2d 410 (1973). As to negligence, the jury was instructed in part as follows: This instruction was substantially taken from 4 Hetland & Adamson, Minnesota Practice, Jury Instruction Guides (2 ed.) JIG II 101, 403, and 404, and conforms to our previous decisions in this area. As we stated in McCormack: The common element in both negligence and strict liability theories of product liability is some kind of dangerous defect rendering the product unreasonably dangerous for its intended use.[4] Unless such a dangerous defect can be found, or previous cases would impliedly support a holding of no liability as a matter of law. See, e. g., McCormack v. Hankscraft Co. Inc., 278 Minn. 322, 333, 154 N.W.2d 488, 497; Magnuson v. Rupp Mfg. Inc., 285 Minn. 32, 171 N.W.2d 201. In this vein, one commentator has observed: Based on the above analysis, and under the facts in this case, the jury's findings of no strict liability but 25 percent negligence are inconsistent and irreconcilable. Implicit in the former finding is the conclusion that the crane was not a dangerous, defective product because of the absence of safety devices. Implicit in the latter finding is the contrary conclusion that the crane created an unreasonable risk of harm because of the absence of the same safety devices. These conclusions cannot be reasonably reconciled. If a product is not dangerous and defective in the absence of safety devices, it is not negligence to manufacture it that way. *308 Normally such inconsistent findings would result in a remand for a new trial, but further analysis leads us to conclude that plaintiff could not recover as a matter of law on either the theory of strict liability or of negligence. If the instructions given by the trial court in this case are appropriate we should note that both as to strict liability and as to negligence, there should be no liability on the part of a manufacturer if the product is safe when used in accordance with the instructions or warnings. We have previously pointed out that a common element in both strict liability and negligence theories is some dangerous defect which renders the product unreasonably dangerous for its intended use.[5] Here the manufacturer warned against using the product within 6 feet of any power lines. Additionally, Barton, the employer, and plaintiff, its employee, knew of the danger involved. We hold that American Hoist did not owe this injured plaintiff any duty to install safety devices on its crane to guard against the risk of electrocution when the record demonstrated that risk was: (1) Obvious; (2) known by all of the employees involved; and (3) specifically warned against in American Hoist's operations manual. While no Minnesota case has expressly faced this issue in a negligence context, one of our cases did deny strict liability when plaintiff was aware of the defect. Magnuson v. Rupp Mfg. Inc., 285 Minn. 32, 171 N.W.2d 201 (1969). The general rule in other jurisdictions is that there is no recovery for negligent design where the danger is obvious. Frumer & Friedman, 1 Products Liability, § 7.02. See, Campo v. Scofield, 301 N.Y. 468, 95 N.E.2d 802 (1950). Restatement, Torts 2d, § 388, is particularly relevant to this type of case: It is clear from the record that neither (b) nor (c) of this section is present in the instant case. American Hoist had good reason to believe that experienced highway construction personnel would realize the danger of contacting power lines with its crane and, indeed, the plaintiff and Barton were admittedly both aware of this danger. More important, American Hoist clearly warned against the precise occurrence involved in the instant case on the first page of its Operator's Instruction Manual. Both Barton and plaintiff violated those instructions by using the crane within 6 feet of a high voltage power line, a use that was not intended by anyone. Our holding that plaintiff cannot recover as a matter of law is dispositive of all issues raised. Reversed. 1. Keep machine clean. Dirt covers up troubles in the making. Quick inspection is possible in a clean machine. 2. Lubricate regularly in accordance with instructions. Keep fuel oil and lubricants clean. Use clean water in radiator. 3. A. Do not gamble when ground is soft. Use mats where needed. [1] American Hoist argues that fundamental fairness requires indemnity here, citing several of our previous decisions including Haney v. International Harvester Co., 294 Minn. 375, 201 N.W.2d 140 (1972); Keefer v. Al Johnson Constr. Co., 292 Minn. 91, 193 N.W.2d 305 (1971); Hillman v. Ellingson, 298 Minn. 346, 215 N.W.2d 810 (1974). [2] American Hoist argues that it is entitled to full indemnity from Barton under a "hold harmless" provision of a sales contract between Barton and Machinery Investment Corporation, a selling subsidiary of American Hoist. That provision reads as follows: "That he [the buyer] will and does indemnify and hold the Seller harmless from any and all liability, including costs and attorneys' fees, arising from or injury or damage to property or persons, caused in any manner by the possession, use or operation of said property." [3] American Hoist assails our holdings that employers and third-party tortfeasors are not under a "common liability" to injured employees, and therefore no contribution lies. See, e. g., Hendrickson v. Minnesota Power & Light Co., 258 Minn. 368, 104 N.W.2d 843 (1960). It argues that we should abolish the common liability test and hold Barton liable in contribution for 75 percent of the damages here, in accordance with the percentage of negligence found by the jury. [4] 1 Hursh & Bailey, American Law of Products Liability 2d, § 1:7, and cases cited. [5] See footnote 4, supra.