Opinion ID: 1726189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: James Alm suffered a severe eye injury when an aluminum bottle cap exploded off of a Seven-Up bottle. Alm had purchased the bottle from a Lewis & Coker supermarket, which in turn had purchased the soft drink from a bottler, JFW Enterprises. Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) designed and manufactured the equipment that was used to cap the carbonated soft drink bottle. JFW bottled the beverage for Seven-Up under a franchise agreement. Under its trademark rights and franchise agreement, Seven-Up controlled the labeling and any cautionary language on the bottle and cap. Alcoa had absolutely no control over the contents of the bottle or any aspect of the soft drink package which reached Alm. Alm sued Lewis & Coker, JFW, and Alcoa under theories of strict liability, breach of warranty, and negligence. He settled with Lewis & Coker and JFW and entered into a Mary Carter agreement with JFW. The case proceeded to trial on Alm's allegations that Alcoa was liable because it did not warn Alm of the dangers of explosive cap separation. Alm asserted at trial and on appeal that Seven-Up controlled the warning labels and that Alcoa could not satisfy its duty to warn the ultimate consumers by warning JFW because Alcoa had a duty to warn Seven-Up. Yet, when Alcoa presented evidence of this warning to Seven-Up, Alm objected that this testimony was irrelevant and self-serving. The trial court sustained the objection, but the evidence was admitted for other purposes. The jury found against Alcoa on all submitted liability issues. The trial court disregarded the answers to special issues on strict liability, stating that strict liability did not apply to Alcoa. The court of appeals reversed the judgment, holding that the evidence of negligence was factually insufficient and that Alcoa had no duty to warn consumers. 687 S.W.2d 374. Alm brought forward only the negligence portion of the case for appeal.