Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co.

Decision Date18 June 2009
Docket NumberDocket No. 07-0507-cv.
Citation570 F.3d 487
PartiesMario Miguel JARAMILLO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY and Technology Licensing Associates, Inc., Defendants-Cross-Claimants-Cross-Defendants-Appellees, Corrugated Gear and Services, Inc., Defendant-Cross-Claimant, Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and Prime Technology, Inc., Defendants-Cross-Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

James Alexander Burke, Larkin, Axelrod, Ingrassia, & Tetenbaum, LLP, Newburgh, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Kevin Burns, Goldberg Segalla, LLP, White Plains, NY, for Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Cross-Defendant-Appellee Weyerhaeuser Company.

Before WESLEY, LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges, and COGAN, District Judge.*

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff-appellant Mario Miguel Jaramillo appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Buchwald, J.), granting defendant-appellee Weyerhaeuser Company's ("Weyerhaeuser") motion for summary judgment, denying Jaramillo's cross-motion, and dismissing the complaint. Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (Jaramillo I), No. 03 Civ. 1592, 2007 WL 194011 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 24, 2007). On appeal, Jaramillo challenges the district court's decision that Weyerhaeuser cannot be held strictly liable under New York law for a personal injury Jaramillo sustained in 2002 while operating an industrial machine called a Flexo Folder Gluer ("FFG") that Weyerhaeuser purchased second-hand in 1971 and used for fifteen years before selling it to Jaramillo's employer, Glenwood Universal Packaging ("Glenwood"), in 1986. The district court agreed with Weyerhaeuser's contention that it cannot be held strictly liable because it was a "casual" or "occasional" seller of FFGs, not an "ordinary" or "regular" seller. The underlying facts and procedural history are set forth in Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (Jaramillo II), 536 F.3d 140, 142-44 (2d Cir.2008). Recognizing that this case required us to resolve a significant question of New York law concerning strict products liability, in Jaramillo II we certified the following question to the New York Court of Appeals: "Construing the evidence in the light most favorable to Jaramillo, is Weyerhaeuser Company a `regular seller' of used Flexo Folder Gluers such that it can be held strictly liable under New York law?" Id. at 149. The Court of Appeals accepted certification, Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (Jaramillo III), 11 N.Y.3d 744, 864 N.Y.S.2d 385, 894 N.E.2d 649 (2008), and answered this question in the negative, Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (Jaramillo IV), 12 N.Y.3d 181, 193, 878 N.Y.S.2d 659, 906 N.E.2d 387 (2009). Because this answer forecloses Jaramillo's strict liability action against Weyerhaeuser, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Under New York law, "not every seller is subject to strict liability." Sukljian v. Charles Ross & Son Co., 69 N.Y.2d 89, 511 N.Y.S.2d 821, 503 N.E.2d 1358, 1360 (1986); accord Jaramillo IV, 12 N.Y.3d at 188, 878 N.Y.S.2d 659, 906 N.E.2d 387. For strict liability purposes, New York courts have drawn a distinction between "regular" sellers, who sell a given product in the ordinary course of their business, and "casual" or "occasional" sellers, whose sale of a product is wholly incidental to the seller's regular business. See, e.g., Sprung v. MTR Ravensburg, Inc., 99 N.Y.2d 468, 758 N.Y.S.2d 271, 788 N.E.2d 620, 622-23 (2003); Stiles v. Batavia Atomic Horseshoes, Inc., 81 N.Y.2d 950, 597 N.Y.S.2d 666, 613 N.E.2d 572, 573 (1993); Sukljian, 511 N.Y.S.2d 821, 503 N.E.2d at 1360-62. In Sukljian v. Charles Ross & Son Co., the New York Court of Appeals acknowledged two policy arguments in favor of imposing strict liability on regular sellers of goods: (1) that "their continuing relationships with manufacturers" often enable such sellers "to exert pressure for the improved safety of products and [to] recover increased costs within their commercial dealings, or through contribution or indemnification in litigation"; and (2) that "by marketing the products as a regular part of their business such sellers may be said to have assumed a special responsibility to the public, which has come to expect them to stand behind their goods." 511 N.Y.S.2d 821, 503 N.E.2d at 1360. Such policy considerations are inapplicable to the occasional seller because "[a]s a practical matter, the occasional seller has neither the opportunity, nor the incentive, nor the protection of the manufacturer or seller who puts that product into the stream of commerce as a normal part of its business, and the public consumer does not have the same expectation when it buys from such a seller." Id. at 1361. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals ruled in Sukljian that such casual or occasional sellers are not subject to claims of strict liability. See 511 N.Y.S.2d 821, 503 N.E.2d at 1361-62; see also Sprung, 758 N.Y.S.2d 271, 788 N.E.2d at 623; Stiles, 597 N.Y.S.2d 666, 613 N.E.2d at 573.

In response to our certified question, the Court of Appeals concluded that "[t]his case is controlled by Sukljian and the policy considerations underlying [its] holding in that case." Jaramillo IV, 12 N.Y.3d at 192, 878 N.Y.S.2d 659, 906 N.E.2d 387. While recognizing that Weyerhaeuser may have had a closer relationship with FFG manufacturers than a customer might ordinarily have with a manufacturer of equipment not unique to that customer's industry, the Court of Appeals still regarded this relationship as "general in nature" and noted that it was "even more attenuated" with respect to the FFG at issue, given that Weyerhaeuser had bought it used from a third party and sold it as surplus. Id. Because "there is no reason to believe that imposing strict liability on Weyerhaeuser's sales of its scrap, used FFGs would create any measurable `pressure for the improved safety of products' on FFG manufacturers," the Court of Appeals determined that the first policy goal discussed in Sukljian does not apply in this case. Id. at 192-93, 878 N.Y.S.2d 659, 906 N.E.2d 387 (quoting Sukljian, 511 N.Y.S.2d 821, 503 N.E.2d at 1360). The Court of Appeals also...

To continue reading

Request your trial
9 cases
  • Arneauld v. Pentair, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • November 26, 2012
    ......Best Transit Corp. , 17 N.Y.3d 594, 607-08, 935 N.Y.S.2d 268, 958 N.E.2d 1183 (N.Y. 2011) (quotations and citation omitted); see also Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co. ("Jaramillo I") , 12 N.Y.3d 181, 188, 878 N.Y.S.2d 659, 906 N.E.2d 387 (N.Y. 2009). In addition, strict liability is Page 36 ......
  • United States v. Lundquist
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • September 9, 2013
  • United States v. Getto
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • September 9, 2013
  • Severstal Wheeling, Inc. v. WPN Corp.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • September 1, 2011
    ...... omitted), and thus we believe that the New York Court of Appeals would do so as well were it presented with the question, see generally Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 2007 WL 194011, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 24, 2007) (where New York Court of Appeals has not determined an issue, a federal court ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT