Balder v. Haley
| Decision Date | 09 January 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. C7-85-1259,C7-85-1259 |
| Citation | 399 N.W.2d 77 |
| Parties | , Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P. 11,271 Michael BALDER and Zita Balder, Respondents, v. Thomas W. HALEY, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, and Republic Water Heater Company, Respondent. HONEYWELL, INC., Petitioner, Appellant, v. Josephine PIRKL, Third-Party Defendant, Respondent. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Where a party's failure to brief an argument before the court of appeals results in irremedial prejudice to the opposing party, then that argument must be deemed waived.
2. The existence of a duty to warn is a legal question to be decided by the court, not the jury.
3. There was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Honeywell was not negligent.
4. As a matter of law, there was no causal relationship between Honeywell's alleged failure to warn and the respondents' injuries.
George W. Flynn, Scott W. Johnson, Minneapolis, for appellant.
Jeffrey R. Brauchle, Minneapolis, for Michael Balder.
Paul D. McKeen, St. Paul, for Republic Water Heater Co.
Thomas A. Zupane, St. Cloud, for Josephine Pirkl.
Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.
This is an appeal from the court of appeals' decision to reverse a Benton County District Court's judgment based on a jury verdict that appellant Honeywell was not responsible through negligence for respondent Michael Balder's injury in the explosion of a liquid propane water heater. Though sustaining the jury's findings that Honeywell had not negligently designed a particular gas valve implicated in the accident, the court of appeals held sua sponte that evidence conclusively demonstrated that Honeywell had breached its duty to warn of dangers associated with the malfunction or misuse of the valve. The court of appeals remanded for a new trial in which it would be determined whether appellant's negligence caused Michael Balder's injuries, and, if so, to what extent. We reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the judgment of the trial court.
On July 23, 1980, liquid propane gas which had leaked from a gas water heater exploded in the basement of a farmhouse owned by Ms. Josephine Pirkl, severely burning Ms. Pirkl's son, Michael Balder. The immediate cause of the leak was the failure of the gas control valve on Ms. Pirkl's water heater to shut off the flow of gas when the heater's pilot light, for some unknown reason, was extinguished. The resulting pool of gas was then ignited by an unknown source.
The valve that malfunctioned was manufactured by Honeywell, Inc., and was referred to as a V5130 gas valve. The description of the V5130 valve contained in the court of appeals' opinion is reasonably accurate and will not be repeated here. Balder v. Haley, 390 N.W.2d 855, 858-59 (Minn.Ct.App.1986).
The V5130 gas control valve involved in this case was designed and manufactured by Honeywell and sold to Republic Heater Co. (Republic). Republic attached the valve to a Republic water heater. In 1970, Josephine Pirkl purchased the water heater from Gamble-Skogmo in Foley, Minnesota, for use in her home. The heater was installed by Thomas Haley, a local appliance repairman who was recommended to Ms. Pirkl by Gamble-Skogmo, but who was not otherwise connected to the store. Written instructions provided with the heater called for the installation of a sediment trap ahead of the gas control valve so as to prevent contaminants contained in the flow of gas from reaching the valve. However, Haley did not read these instructions and did not install such a trap, testifying that he had not been in the habit of doing so.
On installation, Haley tested the valve and gas lines for leaks, but found none. Over the next 6 years, the water heater was used without incident by Josephine Pirkl and members of her family who stayed with her. However, at some point in 1975 or 1976, Ms. Pirkl became dissatisfied with the looseness of the control knob on its stem, which made it difficult to rotate. Pirkl called Haley to complain and, on his suggestion, brought the knob back to Gamble, asking for a replacement. She was unable to get one and continued to use the old knob. In the fall of 1976, Pirkl rented her house to Mr. William Smith, who lived there for the next 3 1/2 years. On several occasions during that time, Smith allowed his tank of gas to run dry. Smith was able to rotate the control knob to relight the pilot the first time he ran out of gas. On subsequent occasions, the knob was too worn to use, and Smith rotated the gas cock by turning the stem with his fingers. About a year and a half after he began renting the house, Smith noticed a small flame coming from the gas control valve. To plug the leak indicated by the flame, Smith melted dark blue dental wax around the reset shaft, first removing a small cylindrical spring he noticed protruding. At subsequent times, when Smith needed to relight the pilot, the action of rotating the shaft from "on" to "off" would crack the wax seal, again allowing gas to escape. At these times, after lighting the pilot, Smith would remelt wax over the knob to seal the leak again. Smith estimates that he applied wax to the controls two to four times in the remaining time he spent at Pirkl's residence.
Smith left when Pirkl moved back to the house in April 1980. On April 11, 1980, Pirkl asked William Sherk, an appliance repairman who was working on a water pump, to relight the water heater. Sherk noticed a gas leak after he depressed the reset shaft, breaking the wax seal. At this point, he refused to relight the heater and shut off the gas at the main tank outside. Sherk advised Pirkl that the valve was dangerous and should be replaced. Pirkl stated that she could not afford to make the replacement. Instead, that same day, April 11, Pirkl called Haley to relight the pilot. When Haley arrived, he found the knob off the control and so worn as to be of little use. Haley rotated the gas cock with his finger from "on" to "pilot," lit the pilot light and turned it back to "on." Haley then noticed a small gas leak. Haley told Pirkl to replace the valve, but she refused, stating that she didn't want to spend the extra money to replace the heater since she was in the process of selling her home. To stop the leak, Haley put industrial adhesive around the reset shaft, told Pirkl that she needed to replace the valve and said that he would not service the water heater again.
On July 23, respondent Michael Balder, his two small children and his mother, Pirkl, went out to the farmhouse so respondent could gather wood. Apparently, on arrival at the farmhouse, Michael Balder and his children went out to cut wood while Pirkl began preparing lunch. At approximately 10:00 or 10:30 a.m., Haley's wife, Marie Haley, received a phone call from Pirkl, who said she smelled gas and wanted to speak with Mr. Haley. Marie Haley told Pirkl to turn off the gas and that Mr. Haley would call her back. Mr. Haley got home at about 11:00 a.m. and returned Pirkl's phone call. Haley told Pirkl to check the pilot light. When Pirkl reported that the light was out, Haley told her to shut off the gas and call Gamble about getting a new heater. Val Gondeck, a clerk at Gamble, recalls receiving a phone call from Pirkl sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on July 23 and that Pirkl said she smelled gas. Gondeck advised Pirkl to shut off the gas to the house at the main tank. When she objected that this would make it impossible to cook food, Gondeck told her that she might not have a house to cook in. Sometime in the next 45 minutes to 1 hour, Gondeck heard fire sirens responding to the explosion at the farmhouse.
It was Michael Balder's testimony that he arrived at the farmhouse from the woods at about 12:00 or 12:15 p.m.; that, in discovering there to be no hot water, he and his mother went downstairs only to find the pilot light extinguished; that his mother then called Gamble; that, after the conversation, she told him that they had the choice of shutting the gas off at the main tank outside or shutting the valve with a pair of pliers downstairs. Michael Balder went on to state that, after this conversation, at about 12:30 p.m., he went back down to the basement. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the gas exploded.
On inspection, the gas valve proved to be missing several parts, and a particular rubber O-ring was misplaced. Adhesive and wax were found adhering to the reset shaft, preventing a safety valve from closing when the pilot light was extinguished.
Michael Balder and his wife, Zita Balder, subsequently brought suit for damages against Honeywell. Also joined as defendants were Thomas Haley, ...
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