Source: http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/444/317/341193/
Timestamp: 2017-09-23 14:49:24
Document Index: 348906936

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 440', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 440', '§ 19', '§ 440', '§ 2', '§ 402', '§ 19', '§ 344']

Harold Murphy, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Eaton, Yale & Towne, Inc., Defendant-appellant, 444 F.2d 317 (6th Cir. 1971) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Sixth Circuit › 1971 › Harold Murphy, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Eaton, Yale & Towne, Inc., Defendant-appellant
Harold Murphy, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Eaton, Yale & Towne, Inc., Defendant-appellant, 444 F.2d 317 (6th Cir. 1971)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 444 F.2d 317 (6th Cir. 1971)
Lakeshore sold the truck in question to plaintiff's employer, Whitehall Leather Company, which ordered it without the accessories. Whitehall had purchased its first truck direct from Eaton in 1957; and from 1960 to 1969 it had purchased thirteen additional Eaton trucks from Lakeshore. It traded in two old trucks on the truck in question. At the time of the trial, Whitehall had a total of six Eaton trucks, five of which were small (including the truck in question), and one large truck. None of these trucks was equipped with load backrests or overhead guards. Whitehall did not want the accessories because of the presence in its plant of low ceiling pipes and doors.1
There was riveted to the cowl of the truck a plastic envelope containing a manual with instructions for safe loading and operation of the truck. In the packet there was a card containing the statement that a key chain with a little pocket-knife would be furnished by Eaton free to the operator who returned another card which stated, "Yes, I have read the safety manual concerning the Yale lift truck below. Please send me a free Yale keychain." Among the instructions was the following: "Do not carry or attempt to lift unstable or unsecure loads."
"ACCESSORIES AND ATTACHMENTS
"Driver's Overhead Guard — A powered industrial truck accessory designed as a protective overhead framework mounted on a truck to protect the driver from falling objects, or low height obstructions.
"Load Back Rest — A powered industrial truck accessory consisting of a vertical protective framework mounted on the lifting carriage of a high-lift truck to prevent the load, or part of it, from falling toward the driver or operator.
"Front-End Attachments — Various nonmechanical and mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically operated devices attached to the front end of powered industrial trucks for handling various kinds of products and materials as single or multiple units. Typical units include: fork extensions, roll clamps, rotating and side-shifting carriages, magnets, rams, crane arms or booms, local stabilizers, scoops, and dumping bins.
"604 DRIVER'S OVERHEAD GUARD
"Wherever industrial truck operation exposes operator to danger from falling objects, the truck shall be equipped with a driver's overhead guard. It shall be of sufficient strength to support a uniformly distributed static test load in accordance with the following Table and Graph A, but it is not intended to withstand the impact of a capacity load falling from any height." (pp. 14, 16)
"Exceptions: Where overall height of truck with forks in lowered position is limited by head room conditions and there is insufficient space for the above amounts of vertical clearance or for the operator to assume a normal driving position, such clearances may be reduced or the overhead guards may be omitted; but special attention shall be given to stack conditions in the operating area, such as weight of units and stability, to reduce this hazard to the operator." (p. 18)
"605 LOAD BACK REST
"Fork trucks which handle small objects or unstable loads shall be equipped with a vertical load back rest or rack which shall have height, width, and strength sufficient to prevent the load, or part of it, from falling toward the mast when the mast is in a position of maximum backward tilt, and shall have no opening greater than the smallest parcel carried." (p. 18)
"806 They shall move only loads which are securely and safely loaded."
Plaintiff went to work for Whitehall in October, 1966. He was injured on June 10, 1968. On the day of the accident he loaded two bales of hides on the fork lift truck and placed a third bale on top of the other two. Each bale was about four and one-half feet long, 18 to 19 inches high, and a "good foot" wide, and each weighed about 750 pounds. They were not tied.
There was evidence that prior to plaintiff's accident, namely on November 2, 1967, an operator named Roy Amaya had been injured by a bale when it fell off the truck (he had stacked one bale on top of another). The company then adopted a rule providing that only one bale be lifted at a time. Plaintiff testified, however, that he was not informed of the rule. Other employees testified that after the rule was adopted they saw only one bale being lifted and carried at a time.
Plaintiff's foreman, Keith E. Smith, testified that prior to plaintiff's accident, he had reprimanded plaintiff several times for his reckless operation of the forklift truck, and had recommended to his superior that plaintiff be removed from the job because "he appeared to be accident prone." Plaintiff had wrecked one piece of machinery by driving into it, and had wrecked numerous skids.
In our opinion, there was no proof of wanton and wilful misconduct as defined by the Michigan Supreme Court. LaCroix v. Grand Trunk Western R. R., 379 Mich. 417, 152 N.W.2d 656 (1967); Heider v. Michigan Sugar Co., 375 Mich. 490, 134 N.W.2d 637 (1965). It was error, therefore, to direct a verdict in favor of plaintiff on the wilful and wanton misconduct count.
"The law itself is not too clear and I am doing the best I can to explain it as I understand it from the cases that have been handed down." Quoted in Macres v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 290 Mich. 567, 570, 287 N.W. 922, 923 (1939).
"The history of products liability in Michigan has been a tale of confusion and uncertainty." 15 Wayne L.Rev. 1558, 1580 (1969).
Of this we are certain, the Michigan Supreme Court has not yet imposed absolute liability on manufacturers in products liability cases, and until it does it is not our function to do so in a diversity case.
"Aside from the above it is important to stress a procedural difference between Piercefield and this case of Browne. In Piercefield two purposely restricted questions of law came up via granted uniform motions to strike made by all defendants. All such defendants, joining in one brief, relied here solely upon such questions (validity of the defenses of no privity and absence of notice under section 49 of the uniform sales act; CL 1948, § 440.49 [Stat.Ann. § 19.289]).
"Whether Piercefield can make out a case, under the second count of his declaration, as against one or all of the defendants sued by him, and whether any one or more of such defendants is possessed of a defense (other than of no privity and failure of section 49 notice) has not as yet been determined. Here the defendants Fenestra and McQuillan have been found, upon trial to a jury of disputed facts, guilty of actionable negligence. The same jury has found defendant Ward responsible to plaintiff for breach of an implied warranty of fitness. Piercefield — with Henningsen above — decided, so far at least as concerns the case at bar, only that present defendant Ward was not entitled to rely upon its defenses of no privity, disclaimer of liability, and elimination of implied warranty by express warranty." (Footnote omitted)
The District Judge was also of the view that Eaton was "greedy" in selling the truck without accessories, which gave it an advantage over its competitors. It is a rather violent assumption to presume, without any evidence, that a manufacturer is "greedy" for not wanting to sell its accessories at a profit.
There was no evidence that the forklift in question contained defective materials or was made with improper workmanship. The only claim as to breach of implied warranty was that the truck should have been equipped with a load backrest and an overhead guard. The central question where such a "defect in design" is alleged should be what the manufacturer intended its product to do.
The ASA Code introduced by plaintiff indicates that forklift trucks are designed to be used for many purposes, and that in order to be designed for some uses special attachments are necessary. The fact that Whitehall ordered the truck without these accessories is at least some evidence that it understood that this truck was not intended to lift high-stacked, unstable loads. When it is recalled that Whitehall, at the time it purchased the truck in question, had in effect a rule prohibiting the stacking of loads, further doubt is cast on whether the truck was intended to be used in the manner adopted by plaintiff.
Whitehall, plaintiff's employer, knew that the truck was not equipped with a load backrest and an overhead guard, because it did not order these accessories. Plaintiff also knew it, and knew that none of Whitehall's trucks were so equipped, as he had operated four or five of them.
"Q. And now did any of those five that you operated have any overhead canopy?
"Q. Did any of them have any kind of a load back rest?
"Q. And, of course, you knew that the first time you ever got on one of those trucks, didn't you?
"Q. It was very obvious to you they weren't there?
"A. Yes, sir." (78a) Plaintiff further testified:
"Q. Mr. Murphy, you knew, I assume that if one of these bales fell off backwards, that there was nothing there to protect you, didn't you?
"Q. And you knew that if they were piled high enough, that they were not steady on the fork, didn't you?
"A. I wouldn't say `not steady.'
"Q. You wouldn't say it?
"Q. There was nothing there to protect the third bale on the top from falling over backwards, was there?
"A. It was put on there directly in the center.
"Q. Was there anything on the truck to prevent it from falling over backwards on you?
"Q. And you knew that, didn't you?
"A. Yes." (85a-86a)
Although it was the function of plaintiff's employer, not Eaton, to give him instructions as to proper use of the forklift in its plant, Eaton attempted to give instructions by riveting a booklet on the cowl of the lift truck, and placed the "For Safety" warning in front of the operating controls where the operator could see it. Plaintiff claimed that the booklet had been removed and that the warning plate was dirty, so that he saw only the words "For Safety"; but that is not the fault of Eaton.
Despite the above evidence, the District Judge deprived the defendant of the defense that plaintiff had interjected an intervening cause of his injury. We are of the opinion that in determining whether Eaton breached a duty embodied in its implied warranty, consideration must be given to whether the alleged defect was obvious to the ordinary user. The District Court rejected the "patent-latent" defect distinction, but the Michigan Supreme Court has subsequently placed beyond any doubt Michigan's adherence to the doctrine. Fisher v. Johnson Milk Co., 383 Mich. 158, 174 N.W.2d 752 (1970).
"There was no inherent, hidden or concealed defect in the wire carrier. Its manner of construction, how the bottles would rest in it, and what might happen if it were dropped, upright, on a hard surface below, with the possibility that the contained bottles might break, was plain enough to be seen by anyone including a patent attorney as well as a milk dealer. There is no duty to warn or protect against dangers obvious to all."
"If the manufacturer does everything necessary to make the machine function properly for the purpose for which it is designed, if the machine is without any latent defect, and if its functioning creates no danger or peril that is not known to the user, then the manufacturer has satisfied the law's demands. We have not yet reached the state where a manufacturer is under the duty of making a machine accident proof or foolproof. Just as the manufacturer is under no obligation, in order to guard against injury resulting from deterioration, to furnish a machine that will not wear out * * *, so he is under no duty to guard against injury from a patent peril or from a source manifestly dangerous. * * * In other words, the manufacturer is under no duty to render a machine or other article `more' safe — as long as the danger to be avoided is obvious and patent to all."
"* * * [W]arrantors are not to be held as guarantors against injury to consumers resulting from the consumer's misuse of the product. * * [T]he defendant at bar was entitled to claim that plaintiff should not have continued to drink its product after she discovered, or should have discovered, it contained glass particles. The proofs were such that the jury could have found, following the challenged instruction, that plaintiff's injuries occurred only after she had warning that something was wrong with her Coca-Cola; that she should not have continued thereafter, without examination, to consume the remainder of her drink; and that, having done so in disregard of the known danger, it cannot be said that she proceeded in reliance upon defendant's implied warranty of fitness." 370 Mich., at 5, 120 N.W.2d at 788.
It can hardly be said that Barefield has been overruled since it was cited by the Supreme Court of Michigan as late as in Piercefield.
Plaintiff relies on Brandon v. Yale & Towne Mfg. Co., 220 F. Supp. 855 (E.D. Pa. 1963), affirmed, 342 F.2d 519 (3rd Cir., 1965), in which the Court, in a short per curiam opinion, affirmed a $250,000-judgment in an action based on negligence and governed by Maryland law. The District Court held that Yale did not comply with Rule 50(a) by moving for a directed verdict, and that there was evidence to support the verdict of the jury. Judge McLaughlin dissented on the grounds that Yale did comply with Rule 50(a) and that plaintiff had misused the forklift. Judge Hastie also dissented, stating:
"Applying section 388 to this case, it is clear that the absence of lateral support and the resultant danger that a stacked load standing loosely on the lift platform would topple and fall from the platform if it should be tilted during lifting, were just as apparent to any user as to the manufacturer. There was no hidden danger or defect here. Indeed the injured workman admitted that he was aware, as he must have been, that tilting would cause the stacked load of corrugated paper to collapse and fall from the lift.
"It seems to me that these facts preclude any finding that the manufacturer was derelict in his duty as defined and limited by section 388(b) of the Torts Restatement. Yet, the jury found that the manufacturer had been negligent and that the user was not contributorily negligent. It may well have been that the user's employer was negligent in requiring him to use this lift for high stacking. However, the defendant here is not the employer, but the manufacturer, whose liability is limited by the principles stated in section 388."
We believe the decision of the Seventh Circuit in Posey v. Clark Equip. Co., 409 F.2d 560 (1969) is more applicable to our case since it involved a standard, small, forklift like the one we are concerned with, and Indiana law, which we think comports with Michigan law. It was Posey's claim that the manufacturer "should have refused to sell the forklift without a guard or [should] have attached a warning about using a guard in high stack areas, or both." Posey further claimed that if a warning notice had been placed on the truck, the employer might have purchased a guard and instructed his employees to install it whenever the truck was used among high stacks.
"Although Indiana law recognizes products liability based on negligence, in the absence of privity, the defect must be hidden, and not normally observable, constituting a latent danger. Although a manufacturer who has actual or constructive knowledge of an unobvious danger in the use of his product is subject to liability for negligence for failure to warn users of the danger, he has no duty to warn if the danger be obvious.
"Although defendant Clark, as a leading manufacturer of fork lifts, was probably more aware of the range of problems and hazards encountered in their use than the ordinary user or operator of fork lifts, we conclude as a matter of law that this is not a situation where only persons of its special experience would realize the danger which might befall an unprotected operator when working in proximity to high stacks of cartons. Plaintiff urges, essentially, that this question ought to be left to a jury, but it is our judgment that there is no evidence to support a finding that Clark had a duty, under the circumstances, to supply a warning notice." 409 F.2d 563-564.
In our case a metal warning sign was attached to the truck, stating that it should be equipped with overhead guard and load backrest. Plaintiff contends that this was an admission that the truck without the accessories was dangerous. Nevertheless, it was a clear warning which was in plain view of the truck's operator, as it was in front of the truck's controls. Plaintiff contends that part of the metal sign was dirty, and he did not read it. Even if true, this was not the fault of Eaton.
This Code has been in force in Michigan since 1964. M.S.A. § 19.1101 et seq. M.C.L.A. § 440.1101 et seq.
§§ 19.2316(3) (b) and (c), M.C.L.A. §§ 440.2316(3) (b, c), provide:
"(c) an implied warranty can also be excluded or modified by course of dealing or course of performance or usage of trade." In Comment 8 under this section, it is stated:
"Of course if the buyer discovers the defect and uses the goods anyway, or if he unreasonably fails to examine the goods before he uses them, resulting injuries may be found to result from his own action rather than proximately from a breach of warranty."
"It would appear that an individual using a product when he had actual knowledge of a defect or knowledge of facts which were so obvious that he must have known of a defect, is either no longer relying on the seller's express or implied warranty or has interjected an intervening cause of his own, and therefore a breach of such warranty cannot be regarded as the proximate cause of the ensuing injury. Such an interpretation gives effect to the true nature of the action involved and the intention of the U.C.C. without needlessly involving the courts in a discussion of whether the implied warranty is founded in contract, tort, or both. * * *
"Thus, considering the facts in the case at bar we think it no more than an exercise in semantics to quibble over whether the actions of the appellants amounted to an abandonment of their reliance on the seller's implied warranty, or contributory negligence, or indeed whether we should view the trial judge's finding of contributory negligence on the plaintiffs' part as tantamount to a finding of an abandonment by them of their reliance on the implied warranty. The important factor under either theory or an amalgam of them is that, although there have been a breach of the warranty, that the breach is no longer considered `the proximate cause of the loss.' U.C. C. § 2-314, Comment 13. That is, the defect in the set, of which the plaintiffs had knowledge, could no longer be relied upon by them as a basis for an action of breach of warranty." 271 A.2d at 747, 749.
See Restatement, Torts 2d, § 402A, Comment n on page 356.
In Comment 9 to M.S.A. § 19.2316 it is stated:
"Thus, where the buyer gives detailed specifications as to the goods, neither of the implied warranties as to quality will normally apply to the transaction unless consistent with the specifications."
It was the law of Michigan prior to the adoption of U.C.C. that no warranty of fitness will be implied when the buyer specifies what he wants to buy from the seller. Automatic Welding Mach. Co. v. Lauer & Assoc., 347 Mich. 218, 79 N.W.2d 627 (1956); Beaman v. Testori, 323 Mich. 194, 35 N.W.2d 155 (1948); F. M. Sibley Lumber Co. v. Schultz, 297 Mich. 206, 297 N.W. 243 (1941); Morse Boulger Destructor Co. v. City of Saginaw, 264 F.2d 847 (6th Cir. 1959). See 46 Am.Jur.Sales, § 344 at p. 528.
Evidence as to a change in policy by Eaton after the accident with respect to including the accessories as part of the original equipment, was inadmissible to establish either negligence (the count of negligence was withdrawn) or breach of warranty. Mandjiak v. Meijer's Super Markets, 364 Mich. 456, 459, 110 N.W.2d 802 (1961); Felske v. Detroit United Ry, 166 Mich. 367, 372, 130 N.W. 676 (1911); Columbia & P. S. R. R. v. Hawthorne, 144 U.S. 202, 12 S. Ct. 591, 36 L. Ed. 405 (1892); Northwest Airlines v. Glenn L. Martin Co., 224 F.2d 120 (6th Cir. 1955), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 937, 76 S. Ct. 308, 100 L. Ed. 818 (1956).
It was error to instruct the jurors: "Nothing can fairly be termed compensation which does not put the injured party in as good a condition as he would have been if the injury had not occurred. Nothing short of this is adequate."
Plaintiff relies on Grand Rapids & Ind. R. R. v. Heisel, 47 Mich. 393, 11 N.W. 212 (1882), as authority for this instruction, but such reliance is misplaced. In the Grand Rapids case the instruction was given in an action for property damage and was inapplicable to a suit for personal injuries. The instruction was misleading as it might not be possible ever to restore plaintiff to a condition as good as he was prior to the accident, and no amount of money could accomplish this purpose.
We also think it was inappropriate for the Court to tell the jury, "That which is adequate compensation today may not meet the cost of living in the future." It may or it may not meet the cost of living in the future, in fact it might even exceed the cost of living, but in any event the jury ought not to be instructed to speculate on future fluctuations in the value of the dollar. Nor do the cases cited by plaintiff permit such an instruction.
"Q. Tell us in substance what this conversation was.
"A. Our conversation was relative to the overall heighth that we would furnish in quoting a lift truck to them; the overall heighth being determined by either the mast, or overhead guard if the guard is higher than the mast.
"We toured certain parts of their building and determined they had low doors, low pipes in areas that would require a low overall heighth of a truck. We established a low mast heighth and determined that the overhead guards would be too high to go through these (294) areas.
"Q. Between you, in your discussion, was that decided that the overhead guards could not be used at that plant?
"A. Yes, that is my recollection."