Opinion ID: 1144486
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Superseding Cause Jury Instruction

Text: ¶ 17. Warner contends that the superseding cause jury instruction should not have been given for four reasons: (1) the proffered jury instruction did not correctly state the law; (2) the facts of the case did not support a superseding cause instruction; (3) superseding cause instructions should be given only if the cause of the injury was unforeseeable; and (4) superseding cause is an question of law for the court to decide, not a question of fact for the jury. We find that the cause of the injury was foreseeable; therefore, the superseding cause instruction should not have been given. [3] ¶ 18. The question of whether an act of negligence is a foreseeable superseding cause requires an examination of the sequence of events leading to the injury. Eckman v. Moore, 876 So.2d 975, 982 (Miss.2004) (The question is, did the facts constitute a succession of events so linked together as to make a natural whole, or was there some new and independent cause intervening between the alleged wrong and the injury?). ¶ 19. The following is a rendition of the sequence of events, the combined effect of which, Lift-All argues, was the superseding cause for the accident: (1) The concrete slab delivered by PreCast to the job site did not have the lifting loops usually installed by PreCast; (2) South Central did not provide the two men with the boom truck usually used to install concrete slabs; (3) The ground around the grease trap was muddy, and the ground became even more slippery when it began to rain; (4) The two men hurried to install the concrete slab so that the grease pit would not fill with rainwater; (5) The two men fashioned a makeshift device out of two Lift-All slings to hold the weight of the concrete slab; (6) Despite the warning label to the contrary, the two men failed to pad the slings so that they would not come into contact with the sharp edges of the manholes; (7) While steering the concrete slab into place, Warner slipped and grabbed onto the concrete slab; and (8) The sling broke, and the concrete slab fell onto Warner, causing the injury. ¶ 20. All of the events which occurred were at least arguably foreseeable. We have adopted six factors to consider in determining whether an intervening act in the chain of events becomes a superseding cause, one of which being the fact that its operation or the consequences thereof appear after the event to be extraordinary rather than normal in view of the circumstances existing at the time of its operation. Southland Mgmt. Co. v. Brown ex rel. Brown, 730 So.2d 43, 46 (Miss.1998) (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 440 (1965)). All of the events which led up to the injury were at least arguably normal consequences of the actions taken by the two construction workers instead of extraordinary consequences. ¶ 21. Therefore, the superseding cause instruction should not have been given. However, we find this error to be harmless in light of the fact that the jury's finding that the sling was not defective. See Jones v. Panola County, 725 So.2d 774, 777 (Miss.1998) (where vandalism of road signs was foreseeable, granting of a superseding cause jury instruction was not reversible error). More importantly, this special interrogatory shows that the jury specifically found that Lift-All was not negligent in any way. Since Lift-All was not negligent in its manufacture and design of the slings, there was no primary act of negligence which could be superceded by a secondary act of negligence.