Opinion ID: 537621
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: eagle-picher's arguments against the workers' cross-motions for summary judgment

Text: 31 Eagle-Picher's next series of arguments asserts that even if the standard we explain for measuring a failure-to-warn claim against Boyle is correct and warrants denial of its motion for summary judgment, the district court erred in granting the workers' cross-motions for summary judgment striking the military contractor defense. Given the standard outlined above and this case's present posture at the summary judgment stage, for us to affirm the district court, the workers must demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact indicating that the Government may have dictated or otherwise controlled the nature and the content of the product warnings. 32 Eagle-Picher identifies three items from the record it claims establish such a genuine issue of material fact. First, it points to a document suggesting that the Navy withheld from shipyard workers information pertaining to the dangers from asbestos exposure because it feared dissemination of such information would trigger lawsuits and spark labor strife. This allegation, accepted as true, raises not the slightest hint that the Government in turn prohibited Eagle-Picher from issuing warnings on its own. 33 Second, Eagle-Picher points to a document indicating that manufacturers of asbestos-based products stated to the Navy that they were willing to issue precautions but that the Navy had resolved, [W]e do not believe any specification changes are needed. If true, this information could establish that the manufacturers were willing to issue warnings if the Government so directed. Yet although such information, as the district court so aptly put it, may provide a foundation for concluding a conspiracy of silence may have existed between the Navy and the manufacturers, it does not suggest at all that the Government stood in the way of the manufacturers' issuing warnings on their own. 34 Finally, Eagle-Picher contends that the relevant packaging, packing, and labeling specification for its asbestos-based cement, quoted above, precluded it from furnishing product warnings. Eagle-Picher admits that this specification says nothing at all pertaining to warnings. Nonetheless, it urges that this specification, which created a very minimal floor for the information Eagle-Picher had to provide along with its product, in fact also created a ceiling, permitting no inclusion of any information by the manufacturer. We are not persuaded. Just as nothing in the relevant specification discusses product warnings, nothing in the specification purports to place a limit upon any additional information a manufacturer may have wished to convey to those using the product. 35 Nicholson v. United Technologies Corp., 697 F.Supp. 598 (D.Conn.1988), is not to the contrary. In Nicholson, the plaintiff, who was injured while repairing the landing gear of a military helicopter, alleged that the manufacturer had failed to provide adequate warnings and instructions for the repair of the landing gear. Because the information brought forth by discovery conclusively established that the Government had exercised extensive control over both the original compilation of the landing gear's repair manual and the revisions, the court found sufficient, specific governmental control over the content of the warnings to satisfy the reasonably precise specifications element of Boyle. See id. at 604. The scope of governmental control over the content of the repair manual in Nicholson supported the conclusion that the Government's specifications left no room for any addition by the manufacturer. The extent of governmental involvement in controlling product warnings in this case pales in comparison. Unlike Nicholson, the labeling instructions issued by the Government in this case were so few, so minor, and so generic, it would require a long leap of logic to conclude that they removed any ability of Eagle-Picher to augment the labeling. Accordingly, we do not find Nicholson analogous to this case. 36 Even though we are not impressed by Eagle-Picher's arguments opposing summary judgment for the workers, we still feel compelled to vacate summary judgment and remand to the district court for reconsideration. Upon our examination of the record, we have come across a number of variations of the packaging, packing, and labeling specification we quoted above in our discussion of facts. These specifications, as well as the Navy Shipment Marking Handbook Secs. 105-06 (3d ed. Mar. 1945), which also is in the record, all appear to touch upon the Government's labeling requirements for Eagle-Picher's product. We are not certain that the district court addressed all of this material in examining the initial summary judgment motions. Moreover, the district court did not establish the content of the earlier editions of the Navy Shipment Marking Handbook. Accordingly, we consider it preferable to remand to the district court to ensure that this material is evaluated and thereby to determine whether any genuine issues of material fact are raised. Cf. 10A C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 2728, at 191 (2d ed.1983) (noting the advisability of refraining from granting summary judgment when the factual record is unclear). If the district court finds that these materials establish a genuine issue of material fact pertaining to the Government's control over the product warnings accompanying Eagle-Picher's product, as well as finding a genuine issue of material fact for each of the remaining two elements of the Boyle standard, it becomes the jury's task to determine whether the military contractor defense applies in this case. 6 If upon reconsideration the district court finds an absence of any genuine issue of material fact, it may enter summary judgment against Eagle-Picher. 7 37 III. OTHER ISSUES: THE AGENT ORANGE DECISION AND THE NEW YORK STATE LAW MILITARY CONTRACTOR DEFENSE 38 Although Eagle-Picher's argument for the most part has revolved around Boyle, its appeal raises certain other issues which we believe merit discussion. The first concerns the bearing upon this case of this Circuit's decision in In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation, 818 F.2d 187 (2d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1234, 108 S.Ct. 2898, 101 L.Ed.2d 932 (1988), a pre-Boyle opinion adopting the military contractor defense. The second involves whether New York state law, see supra note 1, recognizes a military contractor defense that would impose more stringent limits than Boyle upon the workers' prosecution of this action. A. AGENT ORANGE 39 We recognize that our holding today might appear to be in some tension with our earlier decision in Agent Orange. Of course, the Agent Orange case was a massive and widely publicized class action brought by persons claiming injuries from exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the military during the Vietnam War. One of the many claims lodged against the defendant chemical companies was that they had failed to provide sufficient warnings of the dangers of coming into contact with Agent Orange. The class eventually settled with the defendant chemical companies, see In re Agent Orange Prod. Liab. Litig., 597 F.Supp. 740 (E.D.N.Y.1984), aff'd, 818 F.2d 145 (2d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1004, 108 S.Ct. 695, 98 L.Ed.2d 648 (1988); however, individual members opted out of the settlement and continued to prosecute their claims. Although the Government had established certain product specifications for Agent Orange, see In re Agent Orange Prod. Liab. Litig., 565 F.Supp. 1263, 1274 (E.D.N.Y.1983), as in this case, the specifications for Agent Orange did not call for any precautions or warnings about the dangers attending Agent Orange. See Agent Orange, 597 F.Supp. at 818. Notwithstanding that the government specifications were silent as to warnings, we held that the opt-out plaintiffs' claims against the chemical companies were barred by the military contractor defense. 40 Were it not for the Supreme Court's subsequent explanation of the military contractor defense in Boyle, our holding in Agent Orange might support Eagle-Picher's argument for summary judgment. However, the scope of our holding in Agent Orange has been trimmed by Boyle such that Agent Orange no longer carries the weight Eagle-Picher places upon it. Agent Orange grounded the military contractor defense upon broad separation-of-powers concerns counseling the insulation of military decisionmaking from judicial oversight. See Agent Orange, 818 F.2d at 190-91. Although these concerns certainly animated the Supreme Court's opinion in Boyle, see Boyle, 108 S.Ct. at 2517-18 (discussing need to prevent judicial second-guessing of selection of design of military equipment), Boyle ultimately cast the military contractor defense upon narrower grounds than we did in Agent Orange. In particular, Boyle predicated the military contractor defense upon the existence of a significant conflict between federal contracting requirements and state tort duties. For the conflict to be significant, the Government must control product content by approving reasonably precise specifications. See id. at 2518. Agent Orange neither honed in upon the need for a significant conflict nor required that government specifications be reasonably precise. See Agent Orange, 818 F.2d at 192 (first element of military contractor defense established upon showing [t]hat the government established the specifications for Agent Orange). 8 We think these differences underscore the more exacting standard a military contractor must satisfy after Boyle to establish the military contractor defense and thus limit the value of the facts of Agent Orange as a benchmark in a failure-to-warn action for satisfaction of the military contractor defense after Boyle. Consequently, we cannot accept Eagle-Picher's argument that Agent Orange governs this case. 41 B. NEW YORK STATE LAW MILITARY CONTRACTOR DEFENSE 42 Eagle-Picher's final claim is that even if neither Boyle nor Agent Orange bars this action, New York state law recognizes a military contractor defense which does. As an initial matter, we note that the district court's order neither discussed this issue nor identified it as controlling when he certified his order for interlocutory appeal. Nonetheless, strong reasons exist for resolving it at this time. This issue is closely related to the issues already presented by this appeal. Moreover, resolution of this issue will aid in the efficient resolution of this complex and difficult case, as well as the many other similar cases in which this issue may play a role. Because we may consider issues outside of the precise ones identified as controlling in the ruling certifying an order for interlocutory appeal, see Bersch v. Drexel Firestone, Inc., 519 F.2d 974, 994 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1018, 96 S.Ct. 453, 46 L.Ed.2d 389 (1975); C. Wright, The Law of Federal Courts 715 (4th ed. 1983), and find this one worth undertaking at this time, we proceed to consider it. 43 As the military contractor defense exists to promote a federal interest in military procurement, see Sanner v. Ford Motor Co., 144 N.J.Super. 1, 9, 364 A.2d 43, 47 (Super.Ct. Law Div.1976), aff'd, 154 N.J.Super. 407, 381 A.2d 805 (Super.Ct.App.Div.1977) (per curiam), certification denied, 75 N.J. 616, 384 A.2d 846 (1978), we have difficulty accepting Eagle-Picher's supposition that a state might see fit to go above and beyond the protection provided for that interest by the highest federal court, where no conceivable state interest is implicated. Contrary to Eagle-Picher, we find no indication a New York state court would do so and accordingly reject Eagle-Picher's argument. 44 Here Eagle-Picher asks us to interpret an unresolved matter of New York state law. When a federal court applies state law, it looks to the ruling of the state's highest court. However, when the state's highest court has not spoken to the state law issue presented to the federal court, the federal court then must apply the law as it believes the state's highest court would, giving  'proper regard' to relevant rulings of other courts of the State. See Commissioner v. Estate of Bosch, 387 U.S. 456, 465, 87 S.Ct. 1776, 1782, 18 L.Ed.2d 886 (1967). 45 The New York Court of Appeals has not considered whether New York law recognizes a military contractor defense. Although two cases from the New York Supreme Court do discuss this doctrine, they do not furnish us with much guidance. 46 In Casabianca v. Casabianca, 104 Misc.2d 348, 428 N.Y.S.2d 400 (Sup.Ct.1980), the New York Supreme Court for Bronx County barred a design defect action brought against the manufacturer of a pizza dough machine made for the Army during World War II. Without much discussion, the court held that a supplier of goods to the military during time of war who complies with government specifications has a complete defense to any action based upon design. See id. at 350, 428 N.Y.S.2d at 402. More recently, in In re New York City Asbestos Litigation, 144 Misc.2d 42, 542 N.Y.S.2d 118 (Sup.Ct.1989), the New York Supreme Court for New York County held that Casabianca did not bar an action almost identical to the one presented in this case, a failure-to-warn action brought by widows of Brooklyn Navy Yard workers for injuries suffered from the deaths of their husbands due to exposure to Eagle-Picher's asbestos-containing products. The court looked to New York's toxic tort revival statute, 1986 N.Y. Laws ch. 682, Sec. 4, which was enacted after Casabianca and which extended the limitations period for persons injured by asbestos, and found a general legislative disposition favoring compensation of victims of asbestos exposure. This aim, the court reasoned, would be frustrated if Casabianca were to apply to cases involving asbestos. See id. 144 Misc.2d at 46-47, 542 N.Y.S.2d at 121. 47 We do not consider it necessary to predict whether the New York Court of Appeals would follow Casabianca and, if so, how it would resolve the conflict between it and In re New York City Asbestos Litigation in order to conclude that the New York Court of Appeals would not recognize a military contractor defense barring this action. A military contractor defense based on state law would rest upon the same general rationale supporting the federal common law defense. As explained by the New Jersey Superior Court in its adoption of the military contractor defense in Sanner: 48 To impose liability on a governmental contractor who strictly complies with the plans and specifications provided to it by the Army in a situation such as this would seriously impair the government[']s ability to formulate policy and make judgments pursuant to its war powers. 49 Sanner, 144 N.J.Super. at 9, 364 A.2d at 47. To the extent one can glean a motivating principle from Casabianca, it is the same idea driving Sanner--deference to federal military decision-making. See Casabianca, 104 Misc.2d at 350, 428 N.Y.S.2d at 402. 50 Because the federal common law military contractor defense shares the same justification with state law military contractor defenses set forth in Sanner and Casabianca, we see no reason to believe that if the New York Court of Appeals were to recognize a state law military contractor defense, it would construe it more broadly than the standard enunciated in Boyle. Because, as we have explained above, Boyle does not support granting summary judgment to Eagle-Picher on the military contractor defense, whatever New York state military contractor defense that might exist would not either.CONCLUSION 51 To summarize, we affirm the district court's ruling denying Eagle-Picher's motion for summary judgment on the military contractor defense. We vacate its ruling granting the workers' motions for summary judgment striking the defense. We remand to the district court for reconsideration whether the various Navy packaging, packing, and labeling requirements appearing in the record or the various editions of the Navy Shipment Marking Handbook establish a genuine issue of material fact that the Government might have precluded Eagle-Picher from including any product warnings with the goods alleged to have injured the workers. 52 So ordered.