Source: http://openjurist.org/570/f2d/1202/wansor-v-george-hantscho-co-inc
Timestamp: 2017-07-20 21:05:07
Document Index: 470958652

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 105', '§ 24']

570 F. 2d 1202 - Wansor v. George Hantscho Co Inc HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 570 F.2d.
The District Court directed a verdict for Hantscho on March 20, 1975. The running of the 30-day period for appeal was tolled on March 28, when Wansor filed motions for a new trial, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and to set aside the judgment. On June 4, 1975, the District Court denied these motions, and the 30-day period began to run anew, ending no later than July 7, 1975. On this date, Wansor had not filed an appeal. However, on June 13, he filed a motion asking the District Court Judge to reconsider the June 4 order denying plaintiff's previous motions. The Judge denied this motion on July 22, and Wansor filed a notice of appeal on July 24, after obtaining an order extending the time for appeal.
The District Court Judge found that Wansor's delay resulted from a belief that the motion to reconsider filed on June 13 was among the motions that toll the period for filing an appeal. This belief is mistaken. A motion to reconsider an order disposing of a motion of the kind enumerated in Rule 4(a) does not again terminate the running of the time for appeal.5 Ellis v. Richardson, 5 Cir., 1973, 471 F.2d 720; 9 Moore's Federal Practice P 73.09(4), at 3186. The District Court Judge found that the cause of the delay, counsel's misunderstanding of the effect of the June 13 motion, constituted excusable neglect. Hantscho challenges this finding, claiming that the District Court misapplied the standard for excusable neglect that will justify an untimely appeal under Rule 4(a).6 A panel of this Court has already denied a motion by Hantscho to dismiss the appeal. On the full record, we affirm this earlier order.
A brief look at the history of Rule 4(a) and the excusable neglect rule leads us to conclude that the District Court's finding and the prior ruling of this Court cannot be reversed. Until 1946, the civil rules permitted no extension of the time for appeal. Prior to 1966, a party could obtain an extension of the time for filing a notice of appeal in a civil case only by showing that he had failed to learn of the entry of the judgment, F.R.Civ.P. 73(a).7 The 1966 amendment omitted this restriction, providing instead that the District Court had the power to extend the time for appeal "upon a showing of excusable neglect." The Advisory Committee Notes to the 1966 amendment to former Rule 73(a) do not indicate what grounds besides failure to learn of the entry of judgment will constitute excusable neglect. The Notes did emphasize that the District Court has discretion to grant extensions of time, a discretion based in the need for action in cases "where injustice would otherwise result." In the present case, the District Court exercised this discretion and found that counsel's error was excusable neglect. We are unable to say that this finding is a clear abuse of the discretion granted by the rule, and therefore decline to dismiss the appeal.
We do not hold that a bona fide misunderstanding or mistake as to the law counsel will constitute excusable neglect. We recognize that such a proposition would make the requirement of timely filing almost undeterminable. See Airline Pilots in the Service of Executive Airlines, Inc. v. Executive Airlines, Inc., 1 Cir., 1978, 569 F.2d 1174, 1175; 9 Moore's Federal Practice, paragraphs 204.13, at 967-74, for explanations of the excusable neglect requirement and examples of the most frequently accepted excuses. All we decide here is that, viewing the facts and circumstances as a whole, the District Court Judge did not abuse his discretion in granting an extended time for appeal.
The propriety of a District Court's grant of a directed verdict is measured by the standard set by this Court in Boeing Company v. Shipman, 5 Cir., 1969, 411 F.2d 365, 374 (en banc):
On appeal, the Court is to view all the evidence with all reasonable inferences most favorable to the nonmoving party. Worthington Corp. v. Consolidated Aluminum Corp., 5 Cir., 1976, 544 F.2d 227, 230; Callon Petroleum Co. v. Big Chief Drilling Co., 5 Cir., 1977, 548 F.2d 1174, 1176.
Wansor had been working at Bean for approximately three weeks when he was injured. While he had previously participated in the general clean-up operation, he had never before adjusted the screws during the process. Wansor presented evidence showing that during the cleaning procedure, naptha would splash on the catwalk and leave it slippery, and that one had to adjust the screw while crouching on this slippery catwalk and exit by backing out in the same crouched position. There was testimony that Hantscho knew that Bean ordinarily kept the machine running during the clean-up operation as a means of minimizing the "down time" involved.
In most cases, we would find it a relatively straightforward matter to apply the law governing directed verdicts to such facts as these. This case, however, is complicated by its diversity origins. Whether a directed verdict was properly granted a question of federal law turns on the outcome of the state law questions that are to be submitted to the Supreme Court of Georgia for resolution. The critical question to be submitted, and the basis for our certification of this case, is whether the Georgia doctrine of strict liability, based as it is on language enacted in 1968 and interpreted decisively in 1975, applies retroactively. If the Georgia Court holds that the statutory basis for strict liability does not apply to machinery installed in 1961, plaintiff's assertion that the directed verdict improperly took questions arising under the doctrine from the jury would fail. If, on the other hand, Georgia rules that § 105-106 allows recovery for injuries occurring in 1971, then the ingredients of a strict liability claim would be appropriate for jury resolution.
Until the retroactivity question is answered, any efforts on our part to measure the propriety of the directed verdict would be premature. We therefore defer the resolution of this issue until Georgia returns the case to us pursuant to the procedure of certification.Strict Liability In Georgia
Hantscho first contends that strict liability is not at issue in this case because it was not pleaded in the court below. We cannot agree with this proposition. While it is true that neither the complaint nor the pretrial order used the magic words "strict liability," the suit was in part based on Georgia Code Ann. § 105-106, set forth at note 2, supra. It is understandable that counsel in drafting the complaint did not explicitly refer to strict liability: § 105-106 had not yet been interpreted by the Georgia Court of Appeals at the time the case was filed. However, prior to the trial the Georgia Supreme Court did say that § 105-106 imposes a degree of strict liability upon manufacturers. Ellis v. Rich's Inc., 1975, 233 Ga. 573, 212 S.E.2d 373.8 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure demand a liberal construction of pleadings, requiring only that they give fair notice of what the evidence is expected to show. Hantscho does not claim surprise or inability to prepare a defense to the issue of strict liability. The only contention is that strict liability was not explicitly raised by the complaint or pretrial order. This attack is answered by F.R.Civ.P. 15(b), which provides:
The record reveals that with respect to the facts that might give rise to strict liability, the case was tried without objection. Rule 15(b) does not lose its vitality because, in addition to the facts introduced without objection, the pleader failed to include a tag identifying the reasons giving such facts their legal significance. As evidence of the presence of the contention below, we point out the trial judge's statements that the holding in Ellis was dicta and that he did not believe that the Georgia courts would interpret the Georgia statute to apply retroactively. It is to this question that we now turn.
Hantscho manufactured this printing press in 1960 and installed it at Bean in 1961. The statutory basis for the strict liability claim, Georgia Code Ann. § 105-106, was not amended until 1968 to overcome privity limitations on tort recoveries, and was not decisively interpreted to incorporate strict liability until 1975. Does the Georgia doctrine of strict liability apply retroactively to products manufactured prior to 1975? Prior to 1968? As early as the date of installation, 1961? The date of manufacture, 1960?
To resolve the issues for all the parties and to insure stare decisis effect for our opinion, we certify this case to the Georgia Supreme Court for a resolution of this and other state law questions.9
Because we are certifying the case, we do not here decide Hantscho's contention that no recovery can be had because Wansor showed no defect. We agree with the general proposition that a defect is required for a successful claim of strict liability, but do not decide here whether the machine, which unquestionably functioned flawlessly as a printing press, was nonetheless rendered defective by Hantscho's failure to protect or warn against the dangers posed by the unguarded rollers. This question will become decisive only if the doctrine of strict liability applies to the case, the question we have directed to the Georgia Supreme Court. For the same reason, we decline to reach Hantscho's alternative contention that, assuming the machine to be defective, because the danger of becoming caught in the rollers was open and obvious, and because Wansor's testimony indicated he knew of the hazards involved, no liability can be predicated on § 105-106. Our review of Georgia law indicates that an obvious danger, known to the plaintiff, precludes recovery under strict liability only if "his use of the product in view of this knowledge was unreasonable," Parzini v. Center Chemical Co., 1975, 136 Ga.App. 396, 221 S.E.2d 475.10 This question must also await the completion of the certification process.
As is our practice, by directive from the Clerk, we now ask counsel to assist us in drafting the facts and issues to be certified.11 Of course, we do not intend the statement of the issues to inhibit Georgia in framing its answer and we welcome answers as well to corollary questions thought to be significant.12
Certified to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Wansor had collected Workmen's Compensation payments from his employer and did not name Bean in the suit. Hantscho brought a third-party action against Bean, claiming that Bean was negligent in not stopping the machine when the scraper blade required adjustment during the cleaning process
The statute, amended in 1968 to add the second sentence, the language relevant here, provides:
Parzini v. Center Chemical Co., 1975, 134 Ga.App. 414, 214 S.E.2d 700
F.R.A.P. 4(a) provides, in relevant part:
(a) Appeals in Civil Cases. In a civil case . . . in which an appeal is permitted by law as of right from a district court to a court of appeals the notice of appeal required by Rule 3 shall be filed with the clerk of the district court within 30 days of the date of the entry of the judgment or order appealed from . . . .
If this were a motion to reconsider the original judgment, it would function as a motion for new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and would toll the running of the period for appeal if timely filed within 10 days after the judgment. Because this motion was filed almost 3 months after the original judgment, it obviously would not be timely
Hantscho also claimed that the Judge ignored Rule 4(a)'s requirement that a request for an extension made after the time for appeal has expired must be made by written motion, with prior notice to the nonmoving party and a hearing on the issue of excusable neglect. Wansor contests this description of the procedures followed in securing the order extending the time for appeal, claiming that the order was made by motion and did not issue ex parte. Wansor also emphasizes that the notice to the nonmoving party required by the rule is "such notice as the court shall deem appropriate." Given the conflicting facts before us and the open terms of the rule, we see no basis for dismissing the appeal on the grounds of insufficient notice or improper procedures followed in the issuance of the order
E. g., Watson v. Providence Washington Insurance Co., 4 Cir., 1953, 201 F.2d 736. Until the 1966 amendments, no extensions were permitted in criminal cases for any reason. E. g., United States v. Robinson, 1960, 361 U.S. 220, 80 S.Ct. 282, 4 L.Ed.2d 259
Indeed, as indicated above, the Parzini case was before the Georgia courts at the time this case was tried below. In Parzini, a claim for injuries sustained when highly caustic drain solvent squirted onto the plaintiff from a bottle manufactured by the defendant, the Superior Court had entered judgment on a verdict for the manufacturer. On March 20, 1975, the Court of Appeals reversed, upholding the statement in Ellis v. Rich's, Inc., 233 Ga. 573, 212 S.E.2d 373, that § 105-106 " 'does impose a degree of strict liability upon manufacturers,' " Parzini v. Center Chemical Co., 134 Ga.App. 414, 214 S.E.2d 700, at 702, and clarifying the bases of liability. Wansor made the trial judge aware that a decision was imminent from the Georgia Court of Appeals, whose holdings are binding throughout the state and on us as we sit for Georgia in a diversity case. The trial judge nonetheless directed a verdict for Hantscho on the same day that the Parzini opinion was handed down by the Georgia court
Certification to the Georgia Supreme Court is possible under Ga.Code Ann. § 24-3902, as amended in 1977. For our first use of this important state statutory aid to federal courts, see In re McClintock, 5 Cir., 1977, 558 F.2d 732, on certification 241 S.E.2d 831, Ga., 1978
See Brown, Certification Federalism in Action, 7 Cumberland L.R. 455 (1977), for a description of the development of this important device of federalism.
Wansor urges that the Georgia courts would follow others jurisdictions that have allowed recovery under strict liability for injuries that are open, obvious, and known to the plaintiff, without an inquiry into whether his use of the product was reasonable e. g., Micallef v. Miehle Co., 1976, 39 N.Y.2d 376, 384 N.Y.S.2d 115, 348 N.E.2d 571, overruling New York's "patent danger rule" of Campo v. Scofield, 1950, 301 N.Y. 468, 95 N.E.2d 802; Pike v. Frank G. Hough Co., 1970, 2 Cal.3d 465, 85 Cal.Rptr. 629, 467 P.2d 229. We do not see sufficient uncertainty in Georgia law on this point to warrant its inclusion as a question to be submitted in the certification. However, we do not intend to restrict the Georgia Court's response, and would welcome correction of our understanding of this point
We invariably require this assistance from counsel in certified cases. See, e. g., Allen v. Estate of Carman, 5 Cir., 1971, 446 F.2d 1276; Boyd v. Bowman, 5 Cir., 1971, 443 F.2d 848
As we have often stated before, e. g., Martinez v. Rodriquez, 5 Cir., 1968, 394 F.2d 156, 159 n. 6:
(w)e emphasize . . . that the particular phrasing used in the certified question is not to restrict the Supreme Court's consideration of the problems involved and the issues as the Supreme Court perceives them to be in its analysis of the record certified in this case. This latitude extends to the Supreme Court's restatement of the issue or issues and the manner in which the answers are to be given, whether as a comprehensive whole or in subordinate or even contingent parts.