Opinion ID: 1590328
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Affirmative Defense Product Misuse

Text: Cardinal also argues that the accident resulted from misuse of the machine. Specifically, it contends that the cutting tool Mitchell was using was defective. However, `[w]hen asserting misuse as a defense under [the] AEMLD, the defendant must establish that the plaintiff used the product in some manner different from that intended by the manufacturer. Stated differently, the plaintiff's misuse of the product must not have been `reasonably foreseeable by the seller or manufacturer.'' Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Harris, 630 So.2d at 1028 (quoting Kelly v. M. Trigg Enters., Inc., 605 So.2d 1185, 1192 (Ala.1992), quoting in turn Edward C. Martin, Alabama's Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine (AEMLD), 13 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 983, 1040 (1990) (emphasis added)). Foreseeability may be established by expert testimony. Halsey v. A.B. Chance Co., 695 So.2d 607, 609 (Ala. 1997). Ordinarily, the plaintiff's misuse of an allegedly defective product is a factual issue for the jury. Harris, 630 So.2d at 1028. Only `[w]hen there is no genuine issue of material fact as to any element of an affirmative defense, . . . and it is shown that the defendant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law' is a summary judgment proper. Denmark v. Mercantile Stores Co., 844 So.2d 1189, 1195 (Ala.2002) (quoting Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Smitherman, 743 So.2d 442, 445 (Ala.1999), quoting in turn Bechtel v. Crown Central Petroleum Corp., 495 So.2d 1052, 1053 (Ala.1986)). `The movant's proof must be such that he would be entitled to a directed verdict if this evidence was not controverted at trial.' Denmark, 844 So.2d at 1195 (quoting Ex parte General Motors Corp., 769 So.2d 903, 909 (Ala.1999)). In this case, Horn presented expert testimony that it was reasonably foreseeable that Fadal's industrial customers [would] machine their own tools and that such tools [would not] necessarily be of the quality of those provided by the manufacturer. Because the issue of foreseeability is controverted, Cardinal has not met its burden on the affirmative defense of product misuse.