Opinion ID: 450443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Award of Actual Damages

Text: 6 Plaintiffs tried their case on the theory that the can in which Coleman marketed its fuel was defective in design because it lacked a flashback arrester, i.e., a piece of screen placed over the aperture of the can to prevent the flashback of the flame into the can. Brief of Appellant at 2. To hold Coleman strictly liable for marketing its fuel in a can not equipped with a flashback arrester, plaintiffs were required to prove that: (1) the fuel can, when sold, was in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous for use; (2) the fuel can reached the user without substantial change from the condition in which it was sold; (3) the accident was proximately caused by the lack of a flashback arrester on the fuel can; and (4) the fuel can was being used at the time of the accident in a manner reasonably anticipated by Coleman. See Vanskike v. ACF Industries, 665 F.2d 188, 194-95 (8th Cir.1981) (applying Missouri law), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1000, 102 S.Ct. 1632, 71 L.Ed.2d 867 (1982); Jarrell v. Fort Worth Steel & Manufacturing Co., 666 S.W.2d 828, 834 (Mo.App.1984). Coleman argues that plaintiffs failed to prove several essential elements of their strict products liability claims and, therefore, that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 7 Coleman made every attempt to convince the jury that its product was safe and it now insists that plaintiffs have not proved that the can was defective and unreasonably dangerous. Plaintiffs' expert witness, however, testified that the can was defective in design because it could be improved at low cost with a flame arrester, 1 and that a flame arrester under the conditions that have been described [by plaintiffs] would have stopped that explosion, and therefore there would have been no damage. Tr. at III:97. The jury apparently accepted the testimony of plaintiffs' expert and other evidence favorable to plaintiffs on this point. We cannot say that the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to support the jury's finding that the fuel can was defective and unreasonably dangerous. 8 Coleman's chief argument is that, when plaintiffs were injured, the fuel can was not being put to a use reasonably anticipated by Coleman. Specifically, Coleman contends that it did not reasonably anticipate that its fuel can would be used by children or that its fuel can would be used near a fire. To bolster this argument, Coleman cites warnings on its fuel cans that they are to be kept out of the reach of children and are not to be used or stored near heat, sparks, or open flame. 2 9 The principle upon which Coleman's argument regarding anticipated use must rest is foreseeability. The issue is not what use Coleman intended for its product but what use of the product objectively was foreseeable. See Rogers v. Toro Manufacturing Company, 522 S.W.2d 632, 638-39 (Mo.App.1975). We do not question Coleman's intentions, as evidenced by the warnings, that its fuel cans be used only by adults away from sources of heat. Coleman's well-meaning intentions do not, however, foreclose an inquiry into the foreseeability of the use of a Coleman fuel can such as took place in this case. Even misuse may be foreseeable. Id. at 638. 10 Evidence was presented on the issue of foreseeability and the issue was argued to the jury. The jury apparently concluded that it was reasonably foreseeable to Coleman that its fuel cans would fall into the hands of children and be used near sources of heat. Neither Coleman's arguments nor our review of the record convinces us that this conclusion by the jury should be reversed as a matter of law. 3 11 Coleman further suggests that it should prevail under the authority of Brawner v. Liberty Industries, 573 S.W.2d 376 (Mo.App.1978). We agree with the court in Brawner that manufacturers are not insurers nor are they required to produce accident-proof products. See id. at 377. Brawner, however, is not dispositive of the issues in this case. 12 Bradley Brawner was burned when he and a playmate removed the cap of a gasoline container and the gasoline ignited. Brawner sued, alleging that the gasoline container was defective because it was not equipped with a device that would prevent a child from opening it. In affirming the trial court's dismissal of Brawner's lawsuit, the Missouri Court of Appeals concluded that a product made for adult use was not defective and unreasonably dangerous solely because it had not been made child-proof. Id. at 378. We acknowledge the similarities between Brawner and this case; both involve injuries to children and both involve cans containing gasoline. The critical legal issues presented by the two cases, however, are dissimilar. Plaintiffs in the instant case do not claim that the fuel can was defective solely because it was not child-proof. They claim that it was defective because it did not include a flashback arrester, the lack of which presumably could result in injury to any user, adult or child. 13 Coleman also relies on Baker v. International Harvester Company, 660 S.W.2d 21 (Mo.App.1983), in which the widow and children of a man who was run over by a combine brought a strict liability suit against the combine manufacturer. A reading of Baker discloses that the combine had a ladder attached to its side to allow the driver to board. At the time of the accident the combine was being used to harvest beans. Unbeknownst to the combine operator, the decedent, with gun in hand, climbed onto the combine ladder to hunt from the moving combine. The operator noticed the decedent, but before he could stop the combine and ask the decedent to get off, the decedent fell from the ladder and was run over. See id. at 22-23. 14 The trial court in Baker directed a verdict for the combine manufacturer. The Missouri Court of Appeals agreed that the plaintiffs were barred from recovery under the doctrine of strict liability because the decedent's use of the ladder was a use that was neither intended nor anticipated by the manufacturer. See id. at 23. While we do not question the correctness of the court's holding in Baker, we view it as being highly fact-specific. Baker is not controlling here because the product use, or misuse, in Baker is not sufficiently analogous to that in the instant case. 15 We have considered every argument advanced by Coleman in its effort to secure judgment as a matter of law. 4 As we are required to do when asked to reverse a trial court's denial of a motion for directed verdict or for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, we have carefully reviewed the entire record in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion--here, plaintiffs. See Jackson v. Prudential Insurance Company of American, 736 F.2d 450, 452-53 (8th Cir.1984). There can be no dispute that the record contains evidence favorable to Coleman. But there also is substantial evidence to support plaintiffs' substantive claims. Those claims thus were correctly submitted to the jury, whose task it was to resolve the conflicts in the evidence. We cannot say that the jury improperly performed this task or that its verdict lacks adequate evidentiary support.