Court Opinion

ID: 9698543
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:53:04.137259+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:41.798345
License: Public Domain

MONTGOMERY, Judge,
concurring:
I agree with the result reached by President Judge Cercone in his excellent majority opinion. However I also wish to note my belief that extra caution must be exercised in cases such as the instant one where a jury is asked to evaluate claims of both negligence and strict liability. I expressed similar concerns in my Dissenting Opinion in Varner v. Pretty Products, Inc., 270 Pa.Super. 86, 410 A.2d 1261 (1979).
It is clear that a plaintiff may pursue a recovery on the separate theories of negligence and strict liability in a single action. See Varner v. Pretty Products, Inc., Id.; Pegg v. General Motors Corp., 258 Pa.Super. 59, 391 A.2d 1074 (1978); Clouser v. Shamokin Packing Co., 240 Pa.Super. 268, *337361 A.2d 836 (1976). However, as these cases and several others indicate, even our appellate courts have had difficulty in delineating the correct approach to be taken in submitting the strict liability issues to the jury. Compare Azzarello v. Black Brothers Company, Inc., 480 Pa. 547, 391 A.2d 1020 (1978); Berkebile v. Brantly Helicopter Corp., 462 Pa. 83, 337 A.2d 893 (1975); and Varner v. Pretty Products, Inc., supra. While the strict liability issues may themselves present difficult concepts for the jurors to analyze and apply in any given case, the complexity and possibility of confusion can only be multiplied if the jurors are also required to consider the application of ordinary negligence rules in the same action.
I believe that the only sensible approach for the trial judge in such circumstances is to submit the case to the jurors for special findings with respect to the separate theories advanced. Under such a procedure, not only will the jurors find it less confusing to evaluate and resolve the distinct issues presented, but also, it will promote a more efficient appellate review in any subsequent appeal. The absence of such special findings may in fact lead to uncertain speculation on appeal as to the basis for the jury’s conclusion when the issues of strict liability and negligence are jointly submitted for a single general verdict.