Opinion ID: 372611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Claim of Misuse.

Text: 13 IHC argues that the district court should have found as a matter of law that the 500C crawler was not defective and that IHC was not negligent. This follows, IHC contends, because the crawler was misused in a manner not reasonably foreseeable by IHC, and misuse was the proximate cause of Charles Wagner's injuries. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A, comments g and h; Magnuson v. Rupp Manufacturing, Inc., 285 Minn. 32, 171 N.W.2d 201, 206 (1969). Specifically, IHC argues that Wagner's employer misused the crawler by permitting its operation by an unskilled and poorly trained operator under unsafe circumstances, whereas IHC anticipated use by a properly instructed operator in safe circumstances. 14 Contrary to IHC's argument, we believe the record supports a finding that IHC should have reasonably foreseen use of the 500C by operators having limited training and experience. Further, the evidence does not establish that there was product misuse in this case as a matter of law. Wagner received some training, and at the time of the accident he was operating the crawler in customary fashion upon a moderate slope. The parties disputed the cause of this accident. Reasonable people could differ on the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence. Thus, the district court did not err in refusing to dismiss this action on the basis of product misuse. 15