Eickelberg v. Deere & Co.

• Decision Date: 21 March 1979
• Docket Number: No. 61344,61344
• Citation: 276 N.W.2d 442
• Parties: James L. EICKELBERG, Appellant, v. DEERE & COMPANY, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 442

276 N.W.2d 442

James L. EICKELBERG, Appellant, v. DEERE & COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 61344.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 21, 1979.

Steven K. Warbasse and William C. Ball of Ball & Nagle, Waterloo, for appellant.

George Lindeman of Lindeman & Yagla, Waterloo, for appellee.

Considered by REYNOLDSON, C. J., and UHLENHOPP, McCORMICK, ALLBEE and McGIVERIN, JJ.

ALLBEE, Justice.

Plaintiff, James L. Eickelberg, was injured when his hand was caught between the belt and sheave of a variable speed transmission on the left side of a John Deere Model 95 combine. That implement belonged to Robert Rose, whom plaintiff had hired to harvest his soybeans. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was attempting to assist Rose in making minor repairs of the machine in the field.

As originally pleaded, the lawsuit was against Deere & Co. for products liability based on negligence, strict liability and warranty theories, and against Rose and Darwin Larsen, the combine operator, for negligence. The claims against the latter defendants were dismissed before trial, as were the negligence and warranty counts against Deere & Co. Thus the case proceeded to trial against Deere & Co. on the single remaining theory, strict liability in tort. The jury returned a verdict for defendant. Judgment was entered on the verdict. Plaintiff's motion for a new trial was denied, and he appealed. We consider the five issues he raises in the order in which they are argued in his brief.

I. Plaintiff first argues that trial court erred in instructing the jury that it had to find that the product was unreasonably dangerous in order to return a verdict for plaintiff on the strict liability theory. He cites the language from Haumerson v. Ford Motor Co., 257 N.W.2d 7, 16 (Iowa 1977), Quoting Elmore v. American Motors Corp., 70 Cal.2d 578, 586, 75 Cal.Rptr. 652, 657, 451 P.2d 84, 89 (1969), that a bystander ought to be entitled to greater protection from defective products than a user because the bystander has no opportunity to protect himself. He also insists that the "unreasonably dangerous" element of Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A (1965) introduces an element of negligence into strict liability. He finds support for this contention in cases from other states which develop the strict liability doctrine to exclude this element: Barker v. Lull Engineering, Inc., 20 Cal.3d 413, 143 Cal.Rptr. 225, 573 P.2d 443 (1978); Cronin v. J. B. E. Olson Corp., 8 Cal.3d 121, 104 Cal.Rptr. 433, 501 P.2d 1153 (1972); Glass v. Ford Motor Co., 123 N.J.Super. 599, 304 A.2d 562 (1973); and Berkebile v. Brantley Helicopter Corp., 462 Pa. 83, 337 A.2d 893 (1975).

This court recently refused to eliminate the "unreasonably dangerous" element from strict liability cases where the plaintiff is a user of the product. Aller v. Rodgers Machinery Manufacturing Co., 268 N.W.2d 830, 834-35 (Iowa 1978). That opinion discussed the difference between negligence and the "unreasonably dangerous" requirement of section 402A. While negligence requires an examination of the manufacturer's actions in designing and producing the product, the "unreasonably dangerous" element involves a determination of the consumer's reasonable expectations regarding the product's characteristics. Aller, 268 N.W.2d at 835; Vincer v. Esther Williams All-Aluminum Swimming Pool Co., 69 Wis.2d 326, 332, 230 N.W.2d 794, 798-99 (1975). See also Blevins v. Cushman Motors, 551 S.W.2d 602, 607-08 (Mo.1977).

Some courts have excised the "unreasonably dangerous" element from section 402A, See, e. g., Cronin, 8 Cal.3d at 132-33, 104 Cal.Rptr. at 441, 501 P.2d at 1061-62; Azzarello v. Black Brothers Co., 480 Pa. 547, 559-60, 391 A.2d 1020, 1027 (1978), or have otherwise modified that requirement. Seattle-First National Bank v. Tabert, 86 Wash.2d 145, 154, 542 P.2d 774, 779 (1975) (liability imposed if a product is "not reasonably safe"). Others, however, have retained the element. Some of those retaining it have specifically rejected Cronin, see, e. g., Cepeda v. Cumberland Engineering Co., 76 N.J. 152, 178-80, 386 A.2d 816, 829 (1978); Vineyard v. Empire Machinery Co., 119 Ariz. 502, 504, 581 P.2d 1152, 1154 (Ct.App.1978); Kirkland v. General Motors Corp., 521 P.2d 1353, 1362-63 (Okl.1974), while others make no mention of that case. See, e. g., Blevins, 551 S.W.2d at 607; Vincer, 69 Wis.2d at 331, 230 N.W.2d at 798. Finally, one of plaintiff's primary authorities, Glass v. Ford Motor Co., 123 N.J.Super. 599, 304 A.2d 562 (1973), was specifically disapproved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey in Cepeda, 76 N.J. at 180, 386 A.2d at 829. We have reexamined and reconsidered the authorities involved and have determined that this court's recent announcement in Aller must be followed here.

Nor are we inclined to extend liability in this case because plaintiff claims to have been a bystander. Neither the case which plaintiff cites for such an extension, Haumerson v. Ford Motor Co., 257 N.W.2d 7, 16 (Iowa 1977), nor the case which Haumerson quotes, Elmore v. American Motors Corp. 70 Cal.2d 578, 586, 75 Cal.Rptr. 652, 657, 451 P.2d 84, 89 (1969), actually extend liability to bystanders beyond that to users. They merely brought liability to bystanders in line with that to users. We are not persuaded of a need to indulge in the extension which plaintiff contends for in this case. Trial court was correct in requiring the jury to find that the combine was unreasonably dangerous.

II. Plaintiff's next contention is that trial court erroneously foreclosed the introduction of evidence of similar accidents which was offered to show that the combine was unreasonably dangerous. During the discovery process, plaintiff directed an interrogatory to Deere & Co. asking whether it had received any claims alleging injuries from the belts or sheaves on its Model 95 combine. Deere & Co. responded by listing four such claims. During trial, plaintiff offered that answer as evidence to show that the belt assembly by which he was injured was unreasonably dangerous. Defendant objected that it was irrelevant and immaterial and the court sustained the objection. Plaintiff now argues that evidence of similar accidents ought to be admissible in a strict liability case on the issues of whether the product was unreasonably dangerous and whether it had a defect.

Such evidence is allowed in negligence cases to show a hazard and defendant's knowledge thereof. See Smith v. J. C. Penney Co., 260 Iowa 573, 578, 149 N.W.2d 794, 797 (1967); Berk v. Arendts, 254 Iowa 363, 370-71, 117 N.W.2d 905, 909 (1962). In negligence cases, there must be a showing that conditions were substantially similar and the occurrence was not too remote in time.

Relying upon analogies to negligence cases, several courts have held that evidence of similar accidents is admissible in actions based on strict liability. See, e. g., Wojciechowski v. Long-Airdox Division of Mormon Group, Inc., 488 F.2d 1111, 1115-16 (3d Cir. 1973); Badorek v. General Motors Corp., 11 Cal.App.3d 902, 932-34, 90 Cal.Rptr. 305, 326-27 (1970); Ginnis v. Mapes Hotel Corp., 86 Nev. 408, 415-16, 470 P.2d 135, 139-40, 42 A.L.R.3d 769, 777 (1970); City of Franklin v. Badger Ford Truck Sales Inc., 58 Wis.2d 641, 656-57 & nn. 20, 21, 207 N.W.2d 866, 873 (1973). While substantial similarity is required, the temporal element does not apply to strict liability cases. Badorek, 11 Cal.App.3d at 933, 90 Cal.Rptr. at 326; Ginnis, 86 Nev. at 415-16, 470 P.2d at 139-40, 42 A.L.R.3d at 777. This is because knowledge or notice of a dangerous condition is not an issue in such actions.

The rule gleaned from these decisions is a salutary one, and we now recognize it as the law of this state. Recognition of this principle, however, does not benefit plaintiff. Because the question is one of relevancy and the inconvenience of trying collateral issues, admission or rejection of such evidence calls for the exercise of sound judicial discretion by the trial court. City of Franklin, 58 Wis.2d at 656-57, & n.21, 207 N.W.2d at 873; Cf. Northrup v. Miles Homes, Inc., 204 N.W.2d 850, 855-56 (Iowa 1973) (evidence of similar acts to show fraud or deceit). Here there was no abuse of discretion. Two of the four claims described in the answer to the interrogatory were dissimilar to the situation from which plaintiff's injury arose. In the first, a shield, present on the combine which injured plaintiff, had been removed. In the third, the injured party was coming out from beneath the combine when the injury occurred. Plaintiff, in contrast, had been standing nearby and had caught some clothing in one of the belts.

The answer to the interrogatory was offered as a unit. When parts of a unit of evidence are inadmissible, failure to offer specific portions which are admissible is fatal. Englund v. Younker Brothers, Inc., 259 Iowa 48, 57-58, 142 N.W.2d 530, 535 (1966) (offer of entire lease where only portions were relevant); Olson v. Norwegian Mutual Insurance Assoc., 258 Iowa 731, 736-37, 140 N.W.2d 91, 94-95 (1966). Thus we need not determine whether a sufficient showing was made that the second and fourth claims reported in the answer arose out of substantially similar conditions. The demonstrated dissimilarity of the first and third claims infected the entire offer, rendering it inadmissible.

III. The next complaint which plaintiff makes is in regard to trial court's refusal to impose sanctions against Deere & Co. for failure to make discovery. Plaintiff had directed interrogatories to defendant regarding alternative methods of shielding the belts and sheaves on...