Arnoldy v. Forklift L.P., 2256 EDA 2006.

• Decision Date: 22 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2256 EDA 2006.,2256 EDA 2006.
• Citation: 927 A.2d 257
• Parties: Mark ARNOLDY and Lynn Arnoldy, h/w, Appellants v. FORKLIFT L.P., f/k/a Clark Material Handling Company, and Industrial Material Handling Systems, INC., Appellees.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

927 A.2d 257

Mark ARNOLDY and Lynn Arnoldy, h/w, Appellants v. FORKLIFT L.P., f/k/a Clark Material Handling Company, and Industrial Material Handling Systems, INC., Appellees.

No. 2256 EDA 2006.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued February 14, 2007.

Filed May 22, 2007.

Reargument Denied August 1, 2007.

Jonathan J. Bart, Philadelphia, for appellants.

Anthony S. McCaskey, Newark, NJ, for Indus. Material, appellee.

Joseph H. Foster, Philadelphia, for Forklift, appellee.

BEFORE: LALLY-GREEN, GANTMAN and POPOVICH, JJ.

OPINION BY POPOVICH, J.:

¶ 1 Appellants Mark Arnoldy and Lynn Arnoldy appeal from the judgments entered on July 14, 2006, in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, in favor of Appellee Forklift L.P. f/k/a Clark Material Handling Company (Forklift), pursuant to the trial court's order granting its motion for summary judgment and in favor of Appellee Industrial Material Handling Systems, Inc. (IMH), pursuant to the trial court's order granting its cross-motion for summary judgment. Upon review, we affirm the judgments entered on July 14, 2006.

¶ 2 The trial court aptly stated the facts and procedural history as follows:

[Appellants] commenced this suit against [Appellees] by filing a Complaint September 1, 2003. The Complaint sounds in negligence and products liability against [Appellees] for defective design and distribution of a forklift.^[fn1]

^[fn1] [Appellee] Forklift manufactured the forklift, and [Appellee] IMH leased it to [Appellant Husband's] employer.

The accident occurred July 9, 2002. [Appellant Husband] was struck while standing behind a forklift his co-worker was operating in reverse. [Appellants] allege the forklift was unreasonably dangerous because it had only minimum safety devices and lacked any warning system when it was moving in reverse.^[fn2]

^[fn2] [Appellant Husband] claims the forklift lacked an audible backup alarm system, rearview mirrors, any form of beacon or strobe lighting, or any other safety device that would adequately protect individuals from injury caused by the forklift moving in reverse.

[Appellee] Forklift filed a motion for summary judgment March 29, 2006 arguing [Appellants] claims are preempted by Federal law. [Appellee] IMH filed a cross-motion for summary judgment April 27, 2006 largely reproducing [Appellee] Forklift's argument. Although [Appellee] IMH's motion was filed three weeks late[, the trial court] elected to rule on the merits. [Appellants] answered both motions [on] May 5, 2006. [The trial court] granted summary judgment immediately following oral argument [on] July 14, 2006. [Appellants] moved to reconsider [on] July 27, 2006, [Appellee] Forklift answered [on] August 4, 2006[,] and [the trial court] denied [on] August 11, 2006. This appeal followed [on] August 11, 2006.

Trial court opinion, 9/11/06, at 1-2.

¶ 3 The trial court ordered Appellants to file a Rule 1925(b) statement of matters complained of on appeal; they complied.¹ In response, the trial court authored a Rule 1925(a) opinion addressing Appellants' matters complained of on appeal.

¶ 4 Appellants present five questions for our review:

1. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of [Appellees] based on its conclusion that the occupational safety and health administration ("OSHA") regulations pertaining to forklifts preempt state tort law under the doctrine of conflicts preemption.

2. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of all [Appellees] on the grounds that OSHA regulations not only are admissible in a strict liability case, but are conclusive notwithstanding the long established law of this Commonwealth that OSHA regulations, ANSI standards or other evidence of industry custom and practice is inadmissible because the reasonableness of the actions of the manufacturer is not at issue in a strict liability case.

3. Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in reliance on the New Jersey Supreme Court case of Gonzalez v. Ideal Tile Importing Company, Inc., 184 N.J. 415, 877 A.2d 1247 (2005) without any analysis of either the facts of that case or the differences of the laws of New Jersey and Pennsylvania with respect to the admissibility of OSHA regulations in a products liability case.

4. Whether the trial court erred in implicitly overruling Sheehan v. Cincinnati Shaper Company, 382 Pa.Super. 579, 555 A.2d 1352 (1989) and other cases holding that OSHA standards are irrelevant to products liability cases against manufacturers.

5. Should this Court resolve the conflict between the common pleas court opinions in this case and in Colville v. Crown Equipment Corp. (C.C.P. Phila. Co., October Term, 1996 No. 0817), 2001 WL 35923655, (R.339a) aff'd, 785 A.2d 1023 (Pa.Super.2001). (R.506a), where Judge Manfredi, under similar facts, held that OSHA did not preempt state law products liability claims.

Appellants' brief, at 4.

¶ 5 Our standard of review in an appeal from the grant of a summary judgment motion is as follows:

Our standard of review is the same as that of the trial court; we determine whether the record documents a question of material fact concerning an element of the claim or defense at issue. If no such question appears, the court must then determine whether the moving party is entitled to judgment on the basis of substantive law. Conversely, if a question of material fact is apparent, the court must defer the question for consideration of a jury and deny the motion for summary judgment.

The standard of review of a trial court's entry of summary judgment is well-established. We shall reverse a grant of summary judgment "only if the trial court has committed an error of law or abused its discretion." "Judicial discretion requires action in conformity with law based on the facts and circumstances before the trial court after hearing and consideration." "Where the discretion exercised by the trial court is challenged on appeal, the party bringing the challenge bears a heavy burden." On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, "we must examine the record in a light most favorable to the non-moving party."

Fort Cherry Sch. Dist. v. Gedman, 894 A.2d 135, 139 (Pa.Super.2006) (citations omitted).

¶ 6 Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2 is stated, in pertinent part, as follows:

Rule 1035.2. Motion

After the relevant pleadings are closed, but within such time as not to unreasonably delay trial, any party may move for summary judgment in whole or in part as a matter of law

(1) whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense which could be established by additional discovery or expert report, or

(2) if, after the completion of discovery relevant to the motion, including the production of expert reports, an adverse party who will bear the burden of proof at trial has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to the cause of action or defense which in a jury trial would require the issues to be submitted to a jury.

Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2.

¶ 7 We address Appellants' first and second arguments together as they pertain to their claim that the trial court erred in granting Appellee Forklift's motion and Appellee IMH's cross-motion for summary judgment. Specifically, Appellants' argue that the grant of summary judgment was improper because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations regarding forklifts do not preempt state tort law under the doctrine of conflicts preemption. Further, Appellants' contend that the OSHA regulations are inadmissible because the reasonableness of the actions of the manufacturer is not at issue in a strict liability case.

¶ 8 Appellants argue that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence certain OSHA regulations. Initially, we note that Appellants are correct in their assertion that consideration of industry standards in a strict liability case would constitute reversible error. Leaphart v. Whiting Corp., 387 Pa.Super. 253, 564 A.2d 165, 171 (1989) (citation omitted). However, Appellants' original complaint contains both negligence and products liability claims. As this Court has stated previously, in a strict liability case in which negligence is also alleged, consideration of evidence of industry standards does not constitute reversible error. Id., 564 A.2d at 171 (citation omitted). In fact, evidence of industry standards and regulations is generally relevant and admissible on the issue of negligence. Birt v. Firstenergy Corp., 891 A.2d 1281, 1290 (Pa.Super.2006) (citing Dallas v. F.M. Oxford, Inc., 381 Pa.Super. 89, 552 A.2d 1109 (1989) (explaining that evidence of customary practice within an industry is admissible in negligence cases), appeal denied, 522 Pa. 612, 563 A.2d 498 (1989)); see also Brogley v. Chambersburg Engineering Co., 306 Pa.Super. 316, 452 A.2d 743, 746 (1982) (OSHA regulations are admissible as standard of care, the violation of which is evidence of negligence). Because we have determined that the trial court properly admitted the OSHA regulations into evidence, we must now determine if these regulations preempt state tort law.²

¶ 9 The principle of federal preemption of state law derives from the second clause of Article VI of the Constitution, the Supremacy Clause. Werner v. Plater-Zyberk, 799 A.2d 776, 787 (Pa.Super.2002) (citation omitted). Under the Supremacy Clause, federal law is "the supreme law of the land" and any conflicts between federal and state laws must be resolved in favor of federal law. Id., 799 A.2d at 787 (citing Burgstahler v. AcroMed Corp., 448 Pa.Super. 26, 670 A.2d 658, 663-64 (1995)).

The United States Supreme Court has recognized three ways in which federal law may preempt, and thereby displace, state law: (1) "express preemption," (2) "field preemption" (also termed "implied preemption"), and (3) "conflict preemption." Express preemption arises when there is an explicit statutory command that state law be displaced....