Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02832/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02832-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
American Industrial Corporation
Appellee
ITW Ransburg Electrostatic Systems Group
Appellee
Charlene Richter
Appellant
Gerald Richter
Appellant

Document Text:

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The Honorable Ann D. Montgomery, United States District Judge for the

District of Minnesota. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

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05-2832

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Gerald Richter; Charlene Richter,

Appellants,

v.

ITW Ransburg Electrostatic

Systems Group, a division of

Illinois Tool Works, Inc.;

American Industrial Corporation,

 Appellees.

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Appeal from the United States

District Court for the District of

Minnesota.

 [UNPUBLISHED]

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Submitted: February 17, 2006

 Filed: April 28, 2006

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Before WOLLMAN, ARNOLD and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges. 

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PER CURIAM. 

Gerald and Charlene Richter appeal the district court’s1

 adverse grant of

summary judgment in the Richters’ strict liability and negligence actions against ITW

Appellate Case: 05-2832 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/28/2006 Entry ID: 2038590
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 Richter’s amended complaint also contained a cause for breach of warranty.

However, Richter failed to argue before this Court that the district court erred when

it granted summary judgment to the defendants on Richter’s warranty claim.

Accordingly, we treat Richter’s warranty claim as abandoned. See, e.g., Jasperson v.

Purolator Courier Corp., 765 F.2d 736, 740-41 (8th Cir. 1985). 

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Ransburg Electrostatic Systems Group (“Ransburg”) and American Industrial

Corporation (“AIC”).2

 The Richters’ claims arise from a high-voltage electrical shock

that Gerald Richter received while working as a paint line operator for Andersen

Windows/Andersen Corporation (“Andersen”) in Bayport, Minnesota. 

We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment, applying

the same standard that the district court applied. Sperry v. Bauermeister, Inc., 4 F.3d

596, 597 (8th Cir. 1993). Summary judgment is appropriate where “the record, when

viewed in the light most favorable to . . . the nonmoving party, shows that there is no

genuine issue of material fact and that . . . the moving party . . . is entitled to judgment

as a matter of law.” Id. 

The district court granted summary judgment to AIC and Ransburg because, in

the district court’s view: (i) the record did not contain facts sufficient to create a

genuine issue of material fact as to whether Richter’s injuries were proximately caused

by AIC or Ransburg’s actions; (ii) the record did not contain facts sufficient to create

a genuine issue of material fact as to whether AIC and Ransburg were responsible for

alleged defects in Andersen’s electrostatic painting system; and (iii) Andersen’s

miswiring constituted an intervening, superseding cause of Richter’s injury.

After a careful review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that the

district court correctly determined that there is no genuine issue of material fact

concerning whether AIC or Ransburg proximately caused Richter’s injuries and that

Appellate Case: 05-2832 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/28/2006 Entry ID: 2038590
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an extended opinion would add nothing of substance to the district court’s wellreasoned analysis of that issue. Under Minnesota law, proof of proximate causation

is an essential element of any design defect or negligence claim. Patton v. Newmar

Corp., 538 N.W.2d 116, 119-20 (Minn. 1995) (design defect); see also Hudson v.

Snyder Body, Inc., 326 N.W.2d 149, 157 (Minn. 1982) (negligence). As a result, our

agreement with the district court’s opinion concerning proximate causation is

sufficient to warrant affirmance of the district court’s judgment, and we need not

reach the other bases for summary judgment set forth by the district court.

Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

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Appellate Case: 05-2832 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/28/2006 Entry ID: 2038590