Opinion ID: 2221662
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: ¶ 6. Some of the facts in this case are in dispute. Strasser began working at Recycled Fibers in January 1993. Recycled Fibers is a Milwaukee company that collects bales of cardboard boxes from various locations, such as grocery stores, and recycles them at its plant. Strasser was a truck driver and crane operator for the company. ¶ 7. Strasser loaded large quantities of heavy baled cardboard using a crane mounted on the flatbed trailer of a truck. The trailer-mounted crane assembly was manufactured by a company that is not a party in this action, Transcraft. The crane featured two ladders, one mounted on each side. To operate the crane, Strasser, who weighed 180 pounds, would climb up one of the ladders. Upon reaching the top, he positioned himself on a seat situated about 13 feet in the air. From this seat, Strasser controlled the crane and collected the bales of cardboard boxes. During the course of this work, he climbed up and down the crane ladders about 30 times each day. ¶ 8. The crane Strasser used was maintained and repaired by Transtech, a mobile fleet repair service. In 1994, Transtech employed four to five people and had accounts with approximately 25 businesses, including Recycled Fibers. Transtech did not sell trailers, cranes, or parts to Recycled Fibers or any other business. Between 1993 and 1994, Transtech's owner and operator, Darryl Frick (Frick), personally supervised the Recycled Fibers account, providing services constantly by making several daily visits to the plant. ¶ 9. Frick was responsible for all the maintenance work, including the checking of hydraulic lines, hoses, brakes, and lights, and anything else requested to be repaired. At his deposition, Frick testified that he often made repairs at the request of the drivers and not always with the authorization of Recycled Fibers' regional or district manager, Tom Marzo (Marzo). ¶ 10. Frick and his employees frequently straightened and rebolted the crane ladders on several of the trailers Recycled Fibers owned. The rickety ladders often bent and twisted because the bolts that attached the ladders at the top and bottom to the crane assembly came out as the bales bumped and hit them. Although Frick wanted to make his repairs safe, he stated that Recycled Fibers didn't give me a standard or I didn't give them a safety standard to keep up with. ¶ 11. After the two crane ladders on the trailer Strasser operated were destroyed, either by being hit by a bale or piece of machinery, Strasser's boss, Marzo, asked Frick to put better ladders on the crane. Frick never acted as a seller, distributor, or dealer for any type of ladder. ¶ 12. Both Strasser and Marzo told Frick they wanted a sturdier ladder and asked Frick to install safety steps or an expanded metal step. Strasser described these steps as stair treads featuring U-shaped pieces of metal with holes punched through that left prickers sticking out the top to prevent slipping. Frick acknowledged that safety steps were important because hydraulic fluid sometimes leaked onto the steps. The existing rungs on the ladders had grooves cut into them, creating what Strasser called a non-slip bar, not safety steps. [2] ¶ 13. Frick interpreted the discussion about safety steps as more of a request.... They said, `if you can get this on there, that's what we'd like.' Marzo told Frick, It would be really nice to have steps like they put on the newer crane. Frick informed Strasser and Marzo he would not be able to meet the request: He did not have the materials and would not be able to obtain them in the time frame allotted for the job because his supplier did not stock them. [3] Frick said Marzo told him that Recycled Fibers had materials for the safety steps in its mill. When Frick went to the mill as Marzo suggested, he found no one there willing to give him the material. ¶ 14. Strasser testified that Frick never verbally made any representations that he could bring the trailer into compliance with any safety standards. Moreover, Strasser never asked Frick to have the ladders comply with any government safety standards or be up to code with any specific safety rules. Similarly, Frick stated that Recycled Fibers made no demands to bring the ladders in line with any safety standards. ¶ 15. A March 29, 1994, invoice indicates that Transtech fabricated and installed ladders for the crane on Strasser's trailer. To Frick, fabricate and install meant that he was building new ladders to replace the old ones on the trailer, thus repairing the machine as a whole, not providing the machine with new parts. Strasser testified that Frick built new uprights and put rungs in between. ¶ 16. The rungs on the new ladders were made from cut U bolts consisting of threaded metal. The threaded metal created grooves running about three-quarters of the way across the ten-inch long rungs. Thus, about two-and-one-half inches of each rung was smooth. ¶ 17. Strasser picked up the crane from Frick. Frick testified that Strasser told him how great [the ladders] looked and made no mention of the request for safety steps. Moreover, Frick did not remember any complaints directed to him about the ladders or requests for further modifications after he completed the work. ¶ 18. Strasser disputes Frick's account, stating that he telephoned Frick and told him to install nonslip stair treads on the rungs on [t]he day he built the ladder. Strasser testified that Frick did not have the treads and did not know where to obtain them. Although Strasser knew the treads could be found at the Recycled Fibers power house, he conceded that he did not tell Frick to procure them there. ¶ 19. According to Strasser, the fabricated ladders had completely smooth treads. He stated that the new rungs provided a wider footing. But after he began using the ladders, Strasser found the steps slippery and attributed that condition to the lack of non-slip stair treads on the rungs. Within a few days after Frick did the work, Strasser slipped twice. Strasser did not return the ladder to Frick. But Strasser told Marzo about the slipperiness, and Strasser instructed a dispatcher to call Frick and tell him to make it right. Frick did not recall being contacted by the dispatcher, but he stated that it was possible that Strasser may have mentioned that he nearly fell off the ladder. ¶ 20. On June 7, 1994, Strasser was picking up baled cardboard in cloudy, drizzling midday weather in an alley behind a Piggly Wiggly store. Strasser had only one stop left after this supermarket, and he already had been to 25 or 30 sites. He experienced no difficulties going up the ladder. On his way down, however, both of Strasser's feet slipped on the bottom rung. When his feet slipped, Strasser lost his grip on the ladder with both hands and, instead of landing on the bed of the trailer, fell about four and one-half feet to the concrete pavement below. ¶ 21. Strasser injured his right knee in the accident. Although the injury initially was diagnosed as a sprain, Strasser later learned that he suffered torn ligaments and tendons. After surgery, Strasser found that it hurt to walk, and he testified that he has no feeling in the front of his leg. At the time of his 1997 deposition, Strasser still was working at Recycled Fibers as a truck driver and crane operator.