Hale v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

• Citation: 756 F.2d 1322
• Decision Date: 13 March 1985
• Docket Number: 83-2407,Nos. 83-2406,s. 83-2406
• Parties: , 17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 928 Larry HALE and Linda Hale, Appellees, v. FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, Appellant. The Budd Company. Larry HALE and Linda Hale, Appellees, v. FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, The Budd Company, Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

Page 1322

756 F.2d 1322

1 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1602, 17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 928

Larry HALE and Linda Hale, Appellees, v. FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, Appellant.

The Budd Company.

Larry HALE and Linda Hale, Appellees, v. FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, The Budd Company, Appellant.

Nos. 83-2406, 83-2407.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted May 16, 1984.

Decided March 13, 1985.

William H. Sanders, Kansas City, Mo., for Firestone.

Thomas J. Wheatley, Kansas City, Mo., for Budd.

John Risjord, Kansas City, Mo., for appellees.

Before ROSS, BENNETT ^* and McMILLIAN, Circuit Judges.

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.

Firestone Tire & Rubber Company (Firestone) and the Budd Co. (Budd) appeal ¹ from a final judgment entered in the District Court for the Western District of Missouri upon a jury verdict in a products liability action brought by appellees Larry Hale and his wife, Linda Hale. Appellees were awarded $4,290,000 in actual and punitive damages from Firestone and Budd. For reversal Firestone and Budd argue that the district court erred in (1) denying their motion for disqualification and their motion for mistrial because of the judge's personal bias and prejudice, (2) refusing to instruct on contributory fault, (3) admitting evidence of other truck wheel accidents, (4) admitting into evidence a motion picture depicting a separation of a truck wheel different from the wheel in this case, (5) admitting into evidence injury photographs of Larry Hale, (6) permitting inflammatory references to the RH5? rim, (7) permitting references to the Firestone 500 steel belted radial tire, (8) disregarding the pretrial orders of Judge Collinson ² and permitting appellees to comment on matters stricken from the case, (9) sustaining the punitive damages award to Linda Hale for loss of consortium, (10) permitting appellee to cite material outside the relevant time frame in support of the punitive damages claim, and (11) refusing to grant a new trial because of the jury's excessive award of damages. Budd further argues that the district court erred in (1) admitting third-party documents into evidence and refusing to give limiting instructions as to their use and (2) denying its motion for a directed verdict on the punitive damages issue. Firestone further argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the punitive damages award. For the reasons discussed below, we reverse and remand.

On October 4, 1977, Larry Hale was injured when part of the assembly of a RH5? truck rim separated under pressure and struck him. The accident occurred while Hale was inflating a tubed tire mounted on the outer dual wheel on his 1968 Ford F-600 ten-wheeler ³ truck.

At the time of the accident, Hale, thirty-one years old and a college graduate, was involved in several enterprises, including the ownership and operation of a trucking company that hauled commodities and the operation of garages that repaired tires. Hale and his companies operated a fleet of approximately twenty vehicles.

On the day of the accident, Hale and his friend, Eddie Leavall, drove Hale's 1968 Ford F-600 truck and a pick-up truck with an attached gooseneck trailer from Hale's place of business in Sheldon, Missouri, to Berryville, Arkansas, to pick up a load of fire-damaged fertilizer. Hale planned to sell the fertilizer to Jack McCormick, a farmer near Reeds, Missouri. The overall trip was approximately 250 miles. At Berryville Hale and Leavall loaded the trucks with fertilizer and headed for the McCormick farm. En route Hale noticed that one of the tires on the Ford truck was leaking air. After an attendant at a service station stated that he was unable to repair the tire, Hale added air to the tire.

When Hale arrived after dark at the McCormick farm, McCormick was not home. Hale received permission to park the vehicles in a quonset hut overnight. He first drove the pick-up truck into the hut and unhitched the trailer. Hale testified that before driving the Ford truck into the hut, he noticed that the tire was low but was unable to repair the tire because he had no tools. Instead, he borrowed McCormick's portable air compressor and added air to the tire while it was still mounted on the truck. The rim separated and Hale was struck and injured.

Hale sustained serious injuries to his face and right hand and minor injuries to his leg. He was hospitalized for four to five days following the accident and underwent facial surgery. He was hospitalized again in January 1978 for two or three days for surgery on his eyelids. His total medical expenses to date are $3,471.80. Hale complains of various continuing problems, e.g., pain, sinus headaches, tearing, altered facial appearance, and a reluctance to be around other people because of the appearance of his face. Firestone's and Budd's medical experts testified that surgery, costing about $10,000, would alleviate Hale's claimed disparity in appearance and other medical complaints. Hale has passed the FAA's pilot's physical since the accident, and Budd and Firestone argue that this is evidence that Hale suffered no permanent disability from the accident. Further, Budd and Firestone argue that Hale began work as a real estate broker in 1980 and that this indicates he has not avoided contact with people.

Hale returned to work approximately ten days after the accident and claims no loss of earnings.

The RH5? rim in this case consists of three parts: a rim base, a side ring, and a disc. Firestone manufactured the rim base and side ring. Budd manufactured the disc, attached the disc to the Firestone rim, and sold the rim/disc combination. The date stamp on the rim indicates that the rim was manufactured in 1956. The rim and tire, when assembled and inflated, form a pressure vessel which mounts on a truck axle by means of a disc welded or riveted to the rim base.

The RH5? rim was developed during the 1940s for use primarily on medium size trucks. The RH5? rim was produced by Firestone, Budd, Kelsey-Hayes, and Goodyear. In 1957 Firestone obtained a patent on a single-piece rim, and in the 1960s Firestone began phasing out the RH5? rim.

Various governmental agencies have conducted investigations of the RH5? rim. In 1969, the Utah Industrial Commission considered a ban on the RH5? rim. Following an investigation and a hearing, the Commission decided not to ban the rim and instead issued an order making employers responsible for instructing their employees in and enforcing compliance with appropriate servicing procedures. The Commission directed that a rim is to be demounted, inspected, and reassembled prior to inflating when a tire is flat or severely underinflated. The Commission found no defect.

In 1969 the predecessor of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began an investigation of the rim. In June 1973 the NHTSA issued a public advisory alerting truck drivers and truck service personnel to the dangers of misassembly of the RH5? rim. The advisory stated: "Never inflate a tire that has gone flat on the road until after double checking the side ring for mispositioning and/or damage." Shortly thereafter, the NHTSA issued another public advisory regarding the dangers of all multi-piece rims. In 1974 the NHTSA issued a public finding that the RH5? rim had no safety related defects.

In 1978, in response to a petition filed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance industry trade association, the NHTSA opened two proceedings concerning multi-piece rims, a preliminary engineering analysis and a rule-making proceeding. Other than requests for information, the NHTSA has taken no action in either proceeding. The rule-making proceeding was terminated in February 1982; no performance standards were issued.

In October 1979, Lynn Bradford, the acting director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, invited Firestone and other manufacturers of the RH5? rim to voluntarily recall the RH5? rim because the accident rate for RH5? rims "point[s] toward an inherent safety defect in the rim." Firestone declined the invitation because the NHTSA had not found a defect.

In 1978 Larry Hale and Linda Hale brought suit against Firestone on a strict liability (defective product) theory. Larry Hale sought recovery for the injuries he had received and Linda Hale sought recovery for loss of consortium. Budd and the Kelsey-Hayes Co. were added as defendants in July 1982.

In 1979 this case was consolidated with other actions alleging injuries caused by various multi-piece rim tires. Extensive national discovery was conducted on several common issues, particularly Hale's allegations of "political slush funds" used to influence government investigations, the withholding of information from and the provision of false information to governmental agencies, and a conspiracy to prevent warning labels on RH5? rims. After reviewing the results of the discovery, Judge Collinson determined that these allegations were "factually baseless" and granted defendants' motions to strike the allegations from the various actions.

After fifteen days of trial, the jury returned a general verdict against Firestone and Budd and for the Kelsey-Hayes Co. Larry Hale was awarded $2,800,000 punitive damages from Firestone and $700,000 punitive damages from Budd and $350,000 actual damages from Firestone and Budd. Linda Hale was awarded $320,000 punitive damages from Firestone and $80,000 punitive damages from Budd and $40,000 actual damages from Firestone and Budd. This appeal followed.

I. Bias and Prejudice of the District Judge

Firestone and Budd argue that the district court erred in denying their motion for disqualification pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 455 (1982) and their motion for mistrial because of the district judge's personal bias and prejudice. Firestone and Budd allege numerous instances of bias and prejudice that fall within three general categories: (1) the judge's questioning of defense witnesses, (2) the...