Opinion ID: 715635
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the proofer have an unreasonably dangerous design defect?

Text: 12 This past year, the D.C. Court of Appeals reviewed its first design-defect claim based on a theory of strict liability in tort. Id. Warner Fruehauf adopted a four-step test for determining whether a seller should be strictly liable: 13 1) the seller [must have been] engaged in the business of selling the product that caused the harm; 14 2) the product [must have been] sold in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the consumer or user; 15 3) the product [must have been] one which the seller expected to and did reach the ... consumer or user without any substantial change from the condition in which it was sold; and 16 4) the defect [must have been] a direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. 17 Id. Warner Fruehauf further analyzed what constituted an unreasonably dangerous defect through a form of the commonly used risk-utility balancing test, which looks to  'the risks, costs and benefits of the product in question and alternative designs'  and compares  'the magnitude of the danger from the product [to] the costs of avoiding the danger.'  Id. at 1276 (quoting Hull v. Eaton Corp., 825 F.2d 448, 453 (D.C.Cir.1987)). Implicit in this analysis is that a court should weigh only those risks of a product against which a manufacturer has some duty to guard a worker, including those risks that emerge from the normal use of the product or objectively foreseeable misuse of the product. See, e.g., Payne v. Soft Sheen Products, Inc., 486 A.2d 712, 726 (D.C.App.1985); Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 863 F.2d 1162, 1167 (4th Cir.1988) (weighing, under Maryland law, only risks incurred from normal use and the incidental and attendant consequences that accompany normal use (quoting Payne, 486 A.2d at 726)); cf. Young v. Up-Right Scaffolds, Inc., 637 F.2d 810, 814 (D.C.Cir.1980) (finding no threshold duty to warn if risk is not reasonably foreseeable). 18 Ferguson's evidence as to whether the proofer was unreasonably dangerous focused entirely on the alleged risks that the proofer posed to individuals who reached inside it while it was running. In order to prevail against Winkler, then, it was not enough that Ferguson established a risk of [316 U.S.App.D.C. 425] injury from reaching inside the moving proofer; he must also have shown a reasonably foreseeable likelihood that workers would reach inside the moving proofer either during normal operations or as part of some misuse that was reasonably foreseeable at the time the proofer left Winkler's control. See McNeal, 836 F.2d at 646; Young, 637 F.2d at 815. 19 1. Was there an unreasonable risk of injury from reaching into the moving proofer as designed and sold by Winkler? 20 Although there is some reason to think that any risk of injury from reaching into the proofer was slight, Ferguson advanced substantial evidence that a chain guard or an automatic safety interlock may indeed have further reduced the risk of injury to persons who reach inside the operating proofer. For purposes of our inquiry, then, we will assume that the lack of either in Winkler's design somewhat increased the risk of injury to persons reaching inside the moving proofer as compared to possible alternate designs. 21 2. Was there an unreasonable risk that workers, during normal operations, would reach inside the moving proofer as designed and sold by Winkler? 22 Ferguson has not shown significantly probative evidence that the design of the proofer contemplated workers reaching into the moving machinery as part of its normal operations. The proofer merely transported dough from one stage of production to another--a process that was completely mechanized. Neither the old nor new design of the proofer offered any means of unimpeded access to the moving line. Even the presence of doubles or hangers would not demand working with the dough in the moving proofer, as neither posed an immediate threat to the continued operation of the machine. 23 In addition, Winkler repeatedly warned individuals not to reach into the moving proofer at any time. The proofer, as originally installed by Winkler, displayed a large warning sign that read, in part, Warning: Before cleaning or servicing or removing protective ... covers, disconnect electric power to machine.... (Emphasis added.) Although paint had hidden this warning by the day of the accident, there is no dispute that a Winkler employee placed such a warning on the proofer when installing the proofer at Ottenberg. A warning with a similar focus was included in the Operations Manual for the proofer that Winkler provided Ottenberg. These extensive warnings from Winkler that explicitly counseled workers against reaching into the moving proofer at any time confirm that Winkler did not intend workers to reach into the moving proofer as part of its normal operations. 24 3. Was there an unreasonable risk that a worker would reach inside the moving proofer as part of some misuse that could have been reasonably foreseen by Winkler when it designed and sold the proofer? 25 Ferguson also has not shown significantly probative evidence that Winkler should have reasonably foreseen either that workers would routinely remove a panel to manipulate the dough without stopping the line or that some employer, like Ottenberg, would permanently remove a panel in order to encourage workers to reach into the proofer. While evidence at trial did indicate that at least two bakeries have now replaced one of the panels on the proofer with a plexiglass door, Winkler had no cause to expect a bakery might adopt such a dangerous modification of the proofer at the time it delivered this proofer to Ottenberg. Certainly, in fashioning the more easily removable panels for the proofer, Winkler did not know of any line worker or bakery that had removed the exterior panels in order to allow access to the moving line; it was only aware of maintenance workers who occasionally neglected to re-install the protective panels. The new panels, which allowed line workers to re-install the panels without the need for tools, thus addressed the sole problem that seemed to arise from the old design. In addition, the evidence strongly suggests that a reasonable observer would not have expected knowledgeable workers to misuse the proofer and risk injury by removing an exterior panel and then reaching inside the moving proofer. That Ottenberg altered the proofer by replacing a panel with a hinged plexiglass door in order to encourage workers to reach into the proofer confirms that there was little risk [316 U.S.App.D.C. 426] of workers routinely reaching into the moving proofer as Winkler had designed it. 26 Even assuming that the original design of the proofer did not sufficiently deter improper and dangerous conduct, Ferguson still has not shown that the proofer was unreasonably dangerous. Although the D.C. courts have never explicitly announced that adequate warnings may cure a design defect, see Warner Fruehauf Trailer Co., 654 A.2d at 1278 & n. 16, they have declared that a manufacturer  'is entitled to defend a strict liability claim based on defective design by showing that a warning accompanied the product that reduced its dangers.'  Id. at 1278 (quoting Carter v. Johns-Manville, 557 F.Supp. 1317, 1320 (E.D.Tex.1983)). Much relevant precedent confirms that the presence of warnings may transform an otherwise unreasonably dangerous design, even as compared to other designs, into a safe one. For example, the Maryland courts, which have often served as an aid in interpreting the products-liability law of the District of Columbia, see Hull, 825 F.2d at 453-54, have noted that adequate warnings may save a designer from strict liability for alleged design defects. See Simpson v. Standard Container Co., 72 Md.App. 199, 527 A.2d 1337, 1341, cert. denied, 311 Md. 286, 533 A.2d 1308 (1987). Similarly, we have noted that the presence of warnings can cure [even an] unreasonable danger. See Leachman v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 694 F.2d 1301, 1306 (D.C.Cir.1982). A comment to Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, from which the District of Columbia derived its version of strict liability for design defects, see Warner Fruehauf Trailer Co., 654 A.2d at 1274, also specifies that [w]here warning is given, the seller may reasonably assume that it will be read and heeded; and a product bearing such a warning, which is safe for use if it is followed, is not in defective condition, nor is it unreasonably dangerous. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 402A cmt. j (1965). 27 In this case, Winkler's obvious and repeated warnings would have, if heeded, eliminated the risk of the injury that Ferguson suffered. As noted, the proofer, as installed, posed no risk unless some person reached inside the machine while it was operating. In its operations manual, Winkler informed users to work with the internal machinery only when the proofer was not running and could not be accidentally activated. Winkler could rely on Ottenberg to pass this information on to its workers, see Cotton v. Buckeye Gas Products Co., 840 F.2d 935, 939 (D.C.Cir.1988), which Ottenberg did. See Ottenberg's Bakery, Inc., Company Rules and Regulations 9 (1987) (admonishing employees to not reach into equipment that is in motion). As a final precaution, Winkler, when it installed the proofer at Ottenberg, even put a large sign on the machine itself that warned any individual to not even open the machine while the proofer was running. Although this warning was subsequently obscured, the critical issue in a products-liability case in the District of Columbia is whether the warnings made the product safe at the time it left the manufacturer's control. See, e.g., Warner Fruehauf Trailer Co., 654 A.2d at 1274, 1276 (holding that the dangerousness of the risks should be assessed at the time the product was sold). As the warning on the proofer was in place at that time, Winkler ha[s] a right to rely on [this] warning, as well as its other warnings, to insulate it from becoming a virtual insurer against all injuries arising from its product. Higgins, 863 F.2d at 1168. Because Winkler repeatedly warned workers not to expose themselves to the only risk involved in using the proofer, no reasonable juror could find either that knowledgeable workers might reach into the moving proofer or that the proofer, as designed and sold by Winkler, was unreasonably dangerous. See id. at 1167-68; cf. McNeal, 836 F.2d at 646 (D.C.Cir.1988) (finding that lack of warnings or instructions as to safe use made misuse reasonably foreseeable and the manufacturer liable).