Opinion ID: 416485
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Matthews' Claim Against Ebco

Text: 19 Matthews' claim against Ebco, the manufacturer of the water cooler, is based on the machine's alleged defect in that it emitted electrical sparks when the motor clicked on. We find no error in the district court's concluding as a matter of law that this characteristic of the machine did not constitute a defect or create an unreasonable risk of injury to others. 20 In dismissing the claim, the district court noted, a permissible inference from the factual showings, that all motors throw sparks, and found that Ebco's motor in the water cooler previously sold by it to Ozone and installed by Ozone on Ashland's premises was not defective simply because it emitted electrical sparks. Implicit in the district court's finding was its conclusion that the social utility of producing water coolers for use in the offices and plants throughout the United States--which could not feasibly be produced without motors emitting sparks--far outweighed any slight risk that might result from the not closely associated risk and not readily foreseeable use of the water cooler in the immediate vicinity of flammable gas. 21 The factual showing negatives and does not permit an inference that Ebco, distinguishably from Ashland's actual or presumed knowledge, should reasonably have anticipated a foreseeable use, Branch v. Chevron International Oil Company, 681 F.2d 426, 428 (5th Cir.1982) (Louisiana products liability law), of its water cooler in dangerous proximity to flammable gas, so as to constitute either a defect in the machine (as unreasonably dangerous to normal use), Id., or to require Ebco to place a warning on its machines cautioning against such use. As stated by the Supreme Court of Louisiana in holding that under the circumstances shown a premise defect was not actionable, the magnitude of the risk posed and the gravity of the harm threatened were small in comparison with that of other risks presented by things in our society. Entrevia, supra, 427 So.2d at 1150.