Opinion ID: 626549
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Consumer-expectations theory

Text: Raymond first argues that Newell waived this issue by failing to develop the consumer-expectations theory in the district court. This argument is based on the fact that none of the documents filed by Newell in the district court  including the complaint  specified a theory of design defect. Raymond in turn chose just one theory (risk-benefit) on which to focus its summary-judgment attack, a fact that Newell pointed out in its responsive brief. Now Raymond argues that, in order to withstand waiver, Newell was obligated to demonstrate a genuine dispute as to all theories of design defect that Newell chose to advance. Raymond's argument, however, goes to the propriety of the district court's grant of summary judgment, not to the issue of waiver, and will be addressed below. In its responsive brief to Raymond's motion, Newell adequately indicated that it planned to pursue the consumer-expectations theory in addition to the risk-benefit theory, and the district court considered the merits of both theories before granting summary judgment. We thus conclude that Newell has not waived this argument.
In Brown v. Raymond Corp., 432 F.3d 640 (6th Cir.2005), this court held that, under Tennessee law, a plaintiff must provide expert testimony to sustain a design-defect claim involving a complex product about which a consumer would have no expectations, and that Tennessee's consumer-expectations test does not apply to complex products. Id. at 644, 647 (internal quotation marks omitted). Newell argues that the district court erred in applying Brown's interpretation of Tennessee law to the consumer-expectations test under Ohio's products liability law. The district court indeed reasoned that under the teachings of Brown, because a forklift has been determined by the Sixth Circuit to be a complex mechanism, the consumer expectation test is inapplicable and, when applying the risk-benefit test, expert testimony is required. Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. v. Raymond Corp., No. 5:08CV2632, 2010 WL 2643417, at  (N.D.Ohio July 1, 2010) (unpublished opinion). But as this court clarified in Hisrich v. Volvo Cars of North America, Inc., 226 F.3d 445, 456 (6th Cir.2000), and as Raymond now admits, Ohio law does not include the distinction between complex and simple products found in Tennessee law. In addition, Ohio law generally does not require expert testimony under the consumer-expectations theory. Id. at 455. The district court's conclusion that Ohio's consumer-expectations test does not apply to a complex product was therefore erroneous, and Newell is not barred from raising this theory despite the exclusion of its expert.
But the fact that Newell is not required to provide expert testimony in support of its consumer-expectations theory does not render erroneous the district court's ultimate conclusion that this claim cannot withstand Raymond's motion for summary judgment. Newell argues that it carried its summary-judgment burden by pointing out that Raymond failed to address the consumer-expectations theory in its dispositive motion. Raymond's motion does in fact appear to assume that Newell planned to proceed on the risk-benefit theory only, and Raymond's reply brief mirrors this supposition (despite warnings to the contrary in Newell's responsive brief). Yet Raymond argues that it sought dismissal of the entire design-defect claim, not simply dismissal of the risk-benefit theory. Raymond's contention requires a somewhat strained reading of its summary-judgment brief, but this appears to be the way that both Newell and the district court interpreted the document. Because Newell and the district court interpreted Raymond's brief in this manner, we will do so as well. Rule 56(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, amended on December 1, 2010, currently provides that [a] party asserting that a fact ... is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by: (A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record ...; or (B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence ... of a genuine dispute.... The commentary to Rule 56 cautions that the 2010 amendments were not intended to effect a substantive change in the summary-judgment standard. In addition, the version of Rule 56 in effect at the time that the district court rendered its opinion provided that an opposing party may not rely merely on allegations or denials in its own pleading; rather, its response must ... set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. If the opposing party does not so respond, summary judgment should, if appropriate, be entered against this party. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)(2) (July 2010) (amended Dec. 2010). Both versions of Rule 56 require that the party seeking to avoid summary judgment must point to evidence in the record demonstrating a genuine dispute of material fact. A plaintiff cannot simply sit back and highlight deficiencies in the defendant's argument without providing some affirmative support for its own position. Yet this is precisely what Newell did here and, in so doing, Newell failed to carry its burden of opposing summary judgment. Specifically, the record before us lacks any evidence of general consumers' expectations about the Dockstocker forklift. See Lawrence v. Raymond Corp., No. 3:09 CV 1067, 2011 WL 3418324, at  (N.D.Ohio Aug. 4, 2011) (unpublished opinion) (requiring evidence of the expectations of normal consumers to support a consumer-expectations theory). An affidavit from the injured worker alone would not be sufficient to establish this element, yet this is the only source of consumer expectations apparent from the present record. See id. (relying on Jordan v. Paccar, Inc., 37 F.3d 1181, 1184 (6th Cir.1994), for the principle that plaintiffs cannot support their consumer-expectations claims with only the victim's or the jury's personal expectations). The record also lacks any evidence of unexpected behavior by the allegedly defective forklift in question here. True enough, the record suggests that the forklift behaved errantly when it failed to immediately brake pursuant to Hashman's commands. But Newell claims that the defective feature of the Dockstocker's design was the lack of a rear guard door, not the lack of responsiveness in the braking system. In other words, Newell does not connect the allegedly errant behavior in the braking system to its argument that a design defect existed within the configuration of the operator compartment. Cf. Donegal Mut. Ins. Co. v. White Consol. Indus., Inc., 166 Ohio App.3d 569, 852 N.E.2d 215, 221 (2006) (involving a situation where the unexpected performance  the stove lighting on fire  was found to be related to the alleged defect in the stove's electrical wiring). Nor does Newell explain how its proposed alternative design (involving a rear guard door) would keep an operator in the operator compartment following unexpected movements by the forklift. Finally, the record lacks any evidence about the feasibility of the proposed alternative design involving rear guard doors. See Francis v. Clark Equip. Co., 993 F.2d 545, 551-52 (6th Cir.1993) (suggesting that expert testimony as to feasibility may be important in a case involving a similar claim). This alone is sufficient to warrant summary judgment for Raymond on Newell's consumer-expectations claim.