Opinion ID: 1223875
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Assumption of duty to retrofit

Text: The plaintiffs' third contention is that Clark voluntarily assumed a duty to retrofit its Series 510 straddle carriers by embarking upon a formal retrofit campaign ten years after its sale of the particular unit at issue in this case but, likewise, ten years before Tabieros was injured. In their brief, the plaintiffs cite Littleton v. State, 66 Haw. 55, 656 P.2d 1336 (1982), for the proposition that a party will be liable in tort where the party voluntarily undertakes a course of affirmative conduct. The plaintiffs also highlight certain evidence adduced at trial, which they claim demonstrates that Clark, in fact, voluntarily undertook the retrofit program. Because the record in this case does not support the plaintiffs' claim that, under Hawai`i law, Clark assumed a duty to retrofit its Series 510 straddle carriers, we cannot accept the plaintiffs' position. Hawai`i case law relating to the voluntary assumption of a duty or undertaking has generally followed the Restatement (Second) of Torts [hereinafter, the Restatement]. See, e.g., id. at 68, 656 P.2d at 1345; Fink v. Kasler Corp., 3 Haw.App. 270, 272, 649 P.2d 1173, 1175 (1982). The Restatement endorses the following principle: One who undertakes, gratuitously or for consideration, to render services to another which he should recognize as necessary for the protection of a third person or his things, is subject to liability to the third person for physical harm resulting from his failure to exercise reasonable care to protect his undertaking, if (a) his failure to exercise reasonable care increases the risk of such harm, or (b) he has undertaken to perform a duty owed by the other to the third person, or (c) the harm is suffered because of reliance of the other or the third person upon the undertaking. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 324A (1965). Thus, pursuant to section 324A of the Restatement, Clark would not be liable to Tabieros for injuries caused by the straddle carrier, in the absence of an otherwise preexisting duty to retrofit, unless (1) Clark actually undertook to retrofit its Series 510 straddle carriers for the protection of third persons from physical injury, and (2) Clark's negligent failure to complete its undertaking (a) increased Tabieros's risk of physical injury, or (b) was incompatible with the discharge of a duty owed by Terminals  Tabieros's employer  to Tabieros, or (c) caused Tabieros to suffer physical injury because either Terminals or Tabieros relied upon Clark to follow through with the retrofit. Cf. Dion, 804 S.W.2d at 310. On the record before us and in consonance with section 324A of the Restatement, we hold that the plaintiffs have failed to establish that Clark assumed a duty to retrofit the straddle carrier that injured Tabieros. As a threshold matter, the evidence on the basis of which the plaintiffs maintain that Clark in fact undertook a retrofit campaign regarding the Series 510 straddle carriers does not support their claim. Most notably, the plaintiffs rely on (1) the minutes of a 1974 meeting of Clark's safety committee (the 1974 minutes) and (2) the trial testimony of two of Clark's employees regarding certain work performed in order to assist a New Jersey customer in retrofitting a non-Series 510 straddle carrier with several safety features. The 1974 minutes state in relevant part: After considerable discussion [a member of the safety committee] stated [that] he believed we should proceed as follows: . . . . 3. A retro-fit program for older model carriers[,] both van carrier and standard carrier[,] to be offered to customers via a letter campaign[,] which would encourage them [ i.e., the customers] to begin the retro-fit program. 4. If [the] customers resist installation and payment for wheel guards[,] then Clark would offer and install them at no cost to the customer. [Another committee member] suggested that consideration be given to no charge on the visibility improvement package[,] which would also include lights and horns. Engineering and Marketing to formalize the material required[,] including cost [and] marketing to conduct the letter campaign. (Emphases added.) It is apparent that the 1974 minutes merely reflect that one or more members of Clark's safety committee were proposing that Clark consider a letter campaign that would encourage the owners of certain of Clark's older model carriers to retrofit. The minutes do not reveal whether (1) the safety committee, as a whole, approved the proposal, (2) the proposal was referred to Clark's management, (3) Clark actually implemented the proposal, or (4) the contingency that Clark undertake the retrofitting for hesitant customers free of charge ever proved necessary. In sum, the 1974 minutes indicate at most that some members of Clark's safety committee, at some time subsequent to the manufacture of non-Series 510 straddle carriers, considered a retrofit campaign. The trial testimony highlighted by the plaintiffs is even more unhelpful to their position. The relevant testimony of one of Clark's employees, Clark Simpson, was as follows: Q. You went to New Jersey, correct? A. Yes. Q. You did the process of staying out there to put these parts on? A. Yes. Q. Those were [Series] 512 carriers? A. Yes. . . . . Q. You are saying you were sort of nursing ITO [ i.e., assisting a New Jersey customer] years after they bought the first carrier? A. Yes. The second of Clark's employees, Glen Burgess, had designed the Series 510 straddle carrier. Burgess testified that, in response to some particularly acute problems involving traffic congestion at a busy port on the east coast (ITO), Clark had undertaken to install strobe lights on some of the straddle carriers that it had sold to one of its customers. As we have noted, none of the cited evidence, nor any other in the record, established that Clark, in fact, ever undertook a general program of retrofitting its Series 510 straddle carriers with upgraded safety equipment for the protection of third persons. See Restatement, § 324A. But even if Clark had commenced some form of embryonic program, the plaintiffs have cited nothing in the record (and we likewise have found nothing) that would satisfy the remaining elements of section 324A of the Restatement, thereby justifying the imposition of liability based upon an assumed duty. Accordingly, we hold as a matter of law that no negligent failure on Clark's part to complete any voluntary undertaking regarding safety equipment, in and of itself, either increased Tabieros's risk of physical injury, see section 324A(a) of the Restatement, or was initiated on behalf of Terminals (or any other party owing a duty to protect Tabieros from physical injury), see section 324A(b) of the Restatement, or caused either Terminals or Tabieros to rely upon any such alleged undertaking, see section 324A(c) of the Restatement.