Buckley v. Bell
| Decision Date | 30 July 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-146,83-146 |
| Citation | 703 P.2d 1089 |
| Parties | Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 10,606 Joseph BUCKLEY, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Bryce H. BELL, W. Earl Bell and Bell Brothers, a partnership consisting of Bryce H. Bell and W. Earl Bell, d/b/a Johnie's, Appellees (Defendants). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Dennis L. Sanderson, Afton, for appellant.
Gary M. Greenhalgh of Greenhalgh, Bussart, West & Rossetti, P.C., Rock Springs, for appellees.
Before THOMAS, C.J., and ROSE, ROONEY, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.
The precise question posed in this case is whether the foreseeability of negligent conduct by a plaintiff occurring subsequent to the negligent acts of a defendant is a question of law or a question of fact. The district court, in a trial to the court, held that the acts of the defendant were not a proximate cause of the damages to the plaintiff finding that the actions of the plaintiff amounted to a new and independent force which caused those damages. In addition the district court found that the particular harm sustained by the plaintiff could not reasonably have been foreseen as a probable consequence of the acts of the defendant. In the context of the debate between the parties the question will be addressed from the perspective of our precedents relating to proximate cause, as well as the perspective of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. We shall affirm the judgment of the district court because we conclude that in this instance foreseeability was a question of fact subject to resolution by the trier of fact, and since there is evidence from which that finding can be inferred we will not change it on appeal.
The issues propounded by the parties are best understood in light of the operative facts. There is no dispute between the parties wiht respect to these facts. Buckley ordered some regular gasoline from the Bells. When the Bells' driver arrived in Bells' fuel truck he handed Buckley a hose which was connected to a diesel fuel compartment, and Buckley filled a portable tank in his truck with diesel fuel. Buckley then drove to the field and filled his gasoline-engine hay baler with the diesel fuel. The hay baler would not run on the diesel fuel, and when he attempted to operate the machine Buckley discovered that he had diesel fuel in the baler's tank instead of gasoline. In the meantime Bells' driver had filled a bulk-gasoline storage tank at Buckley's ranch with the diesel fuel.
Buckley drove to Bells' place of business to inform the Bells that they had delivered the wrong fuel. When he arrived Buckley was advised that Bells' employees knew they had delivered the wrong fuel, and they said they would replace the diesel fuel with regular gasoline. At that time the portable tank on Buckley's truck was drained of the diesel and gasoline mixture and filled with regular gasoline. (In the next two days the same procedure occurred with respect to the bulk-storage tank for regular gasoline.) After the portable tank had been filled Buckley went back to his hay baler in the field. He drained the diesel fuel from the tank onto the ground and filled the tank with the regular gasoline. In order to purge the fuel line of the diesel fuel Buckley disconnected it at the carburetor and turned the engine by jumping the solenoid to pump the diesel fuel out of the line. Buckley had his hand over the carburetor to choke the engine and at about the time the gasoline began to flow from the fuel line he removed his hand from the carburetor. The engine backfired and the gasoline was ignited. The fire then spread to the ground and fueled by dry grass and the diesel fuel it ultimately destroyed the hay baler.
This action was brought by Buckley to recover the cost of his hay baler and additional costs incurred in harvesting his hay because his hay baler was destroyed. Buckley premised his action upon theories of strict products liability; breach of implied and express warranties; and negligence. The argument in the trial court and before this court focused upon the causation element of Buckley's claims. The district court entered the following findings of fact:
The district court then concluded that the Bells were entitled to judgment on Buckley's theory of strict liability because there was a failure of proof of a defective product; that Bells were entitled to judgment against Buckley on his claim for breach of warranty because of the absence of proximate cause, and finally that the Bells were entitled to judgment against Buckley on his theory of negligence because "the evidence proved that plaintiff's actions were the efficient intervening cause of the fire and plaintiff's damages."
The issues identified in the appellant's brief are:
The claims of appellant relating to error in finding no causal connection between the defendants' conduct and the plaintiff's damages and the desirability of adopting the rules of causation set forth in Restatement (Second) of Torts will be discussed together. In Lemos v. Madden, 28 Wyo. 1, 200 P. 791, 793 (1921), this court first defined proximate cause as "[t]hat which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have occurred." This same definition has been relied upon in recent years. Robertson v. TWP, Inc., Wyo., 656 P.2d 547 (1983); Kopriva v. Union Pacific R. Co., Wyo., 592 P.2d 711 (1979). In Lemos v. Madden, supra, 200 P. at 794, the court also rejected a "but for" rule of causation, stating:
" * * * But if the original wrong furnished only the condition or occasion, then it is the remote and not the proximate cause, notwithstanding the fact that there would have been no loss or injury but for such condition or occasion. * * * "
In later cases our court has identified legal causation as that conduct which is a substantial factor in bringing about the injuries identified in the complaint. McClellan v. Tottenhoff, Wyo., 666 P.2d 408 (1983); Chrysler Corporation v. Todorovich, Wyo., 580 P.2d 1123 (1978); Phelps v. Woodward Construction Co., Wyo., 66 Wyo. 33, 33, 204 P.2d 179 (1949). The obvious rationalization of that approach with the two propositions found in Lemos v. Madden, supra, is that if the conduct is "that cause which in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by a sufficient intervening cause produces the injury, without which the result would not have occurred," it must be identified as a substantial factor in bringing about the harm. If, however, it created only a condition or occasion for the harm to occur then it would be regarded as a remote, not a proximate, cause, and would not be a substantial factor in bringing about the harm.
An alternative method for explaining these concepts is found in the discussions of intervening cause in our cases. McClellan v. Tottenhoff, supra; Kopriva v. Union Pacific R. Co., supra; Gilliland v. Rhoads, Wyo., 539 P.2d 1221 (1975); Fagan v. Summers, Wyo., 498 P.2d 1227 (1972); and Tyler v. Jensen, 75 Wyo. 249, 295 P.2d 742 (1956). An intervening cause is one that comes into being after a defendant's negligent act has occurred, and if it is not a foreseeable event it will insulate the defendant from liability. It is reasonably foreseeable if it is a probable consequence of the defendant's wrongful act or is a normal response to the stimulus of the situation created thereby.
The usual rule in Wyoming is that proximate cause of harm is a question for the trier of fact unless reasonable persons could not disagree. Caterpillar Tractor Company v. Donahue, Wyo., 674 P.2d 1276 (1983); McClellan v. Tottenhoff, supra; Kopriva v. Union Pacific R. Co., supra; Sinclair Refining Company v. Redding, Wyo., 439 P.2d 20 (1968); Caillier v. City of Newcastle, Wyo., 423 P.2d 653 (1967); Ford Motor Co. v. Arguello, Wyo., 382 P.2d 886 (1963); Dallason v. Buckmeier, 74 Wyo. 125, 284 P.2d 386 (1955); O'Malley v. Eagan, 43 Wyo. 233, 2 P.2d 1063, 77 A.L.R. 582, reh. denied 43 Wyo. 350, 5 P.2d 276 (1931); Hines v. Sweeney, 28 Wyo. 57, 201 P. 165, reh. denied 28 Wyo. 82, 201 P. 1018 (1921). In this instance the finder of fact decided that the delivery of the diesel fuel was not a proximate cause of the fire and that the actions of Buckley were a new and independent force which proximately caused the fire and the resulting damages to the hay baler. The evidence in the record supports this inferential finding by the trial court, and it is not a situation which is so clear that reasonable minds could not disagree.
Buckley, however, urges the rules of legal causation set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts, contending that a different result would follow. In our judgment the result is the same. Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 430, recognizes the requirement of a causal relationship. Section 431, Restatement (Second) of Torts then states:
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