Opinion ID: 167718
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Safety Belt and Hard Hat Evidence

Text: 65 Mr. Minter's last argument on appeal is that the district court wrongfully denied his motion in limine regarding the evidence that he was not wearing a safety belt or hard hat at the time of the accident. Both types of safety equipment were available to Mr. Minter on the day of the incident, and the district court concluded that the safety belt and hard hat evidence is admissible to show Plaintiff's conduct in the workplace. The resulting effect from the failure to employ these safety devices is a matter for the jury to consider in their deliberations. Order, Nov. 24, 2003, at 3. Consequently, Prime Equipment was allowed to argue at trial that a safety belt would have prevented [Mr. Minter] from falling out of the lift had he been wearing it, Appellant's App. 495, and to introduce the portions of Mr. Minter's deposition testimony where he admitted that a hard hat might have saved [his] head from hurting. Appellee's Supp.App. 29. On appeal, the plaintiff contends that the safety belt and hard hat evidence was relevant only to a comparative negligence defense, and since he voluntarily dismissed his negligence claims against Prime Equipment before trial, the evidence should have been excluded. Prime Equipment defends the admission of the safety belt and hard hat evidence on the ground that it was relevant to the issues of causation and mitigation of damages, and was therefore properly admitted at trial. 66 We affirm the district court's ruling on the narrow ground that the safety belt and hard hat evidence was relevant to the specific causation issues raised by Mr. Minter's failure to warn claim. Oklahoma law requires the plaintiff, in a failure to warn lawsuit, to establish that the failure to warn was a proximate, producing cause of the injuries received. Duane v. Okla. Gas & Elec. Co., 833 P.2d 284, 286 (Okla. 1992). Mr. Minter therefore had to show that if Prime Equipment had posted an adequate warning on the lift, he would have heeded it. See, e.g., Daniel v. Ben E. Keith Co., 97 F.3d 1329, 1333 (10th Cir. 1996). Although there is a presumption under Oklahoma law that the plaintiff would have read and heeded an adequate warning, the defendant may rebut that presumption by showing that the warning would not have altered the plaintiff's behavior. Id. at 1332. Prime Equipment argues that Mr. Minter's failure to wear a safety belt or hard hat on the day of the accident demonstrates his propensity for recklessness. Appellee's Br. 35. While Prime Equipment may be overstating its case, we find that the safety belt and hard hat evidence bears sufficient relation to the question of whether Mr. Minter would have heeded an adequate warning that Prime Equipment was entitled to present the safety belt and hard hat evidence to the jury. Cf. Daniel, 97 F.3d at 1333.