Chrysler Corp. v. Wolmer

• Decision Date: 26 November 1986
• Docket Number: No. 67761,67761
• Parties: , 11 Fla. L. Weekly 605, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 11,217 CHRYSLER CORPORATION, etc., Petitioner, v. Jack E. WOLMER, etc., Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 823

499 So.2d 823

55 USLW 2372, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 605,

Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 11,217

CHRYSLER CORPORATION, etc., Petitioner, v. Jack E. WOLMER, etc., Respondent.

No. 67761.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Nov. 26, 1986.

Michael B. Davis of Davis, Critton, Hoy & Diamond, West Palm Beach, and Sheila L. Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Folm, New York City, for petitioner.

Joel S. Perwin of Podhurst, Orseck, Parks, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow & Olin, P.A., Miami, and Haddad, Josephs & Jack, P.A., Coral Gables, for respondent.

Edward T. O'Donnell of Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody & Cole, Miami, and David G. Owen, Columbia, S.C., amici curiae for The Product Liability Advisory Counsel, Inc. and The Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of the United States, Inc.

Joseph S. Kashi of Conrad, Scherer & James, Fort Lauderdale, amicus curiae for Florida Defense Lawyers Assn.

Timothy J. Corrigan of Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Gentry, Jacksonville, amicus curiae for The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

McDONALD, Chief Justice.

We have for review Wolmer v. Chrysler Corp., 474 So.2d 834 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), which expressly and directly conflicts with Como Oil Co. v. O'Loughlin, 466 So.2d 1061 (Fla.1985), White Construction Co. v. Dupont, 455 So.2d 1026 (Fla.1984), and Carraway v. Revell, 116 So.2d 16 (Fla.1959). This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution. The issue is what type of conduct a party must demonstrate in order to justify the imposition of punitive damages. We reaffirm what we recently said in Como Oil and White, wherein we applied Carraway, and quash the opinion of the district court.

This case involves an award of punitive damages against an automobile manufacturer in a wrongful death action. The record shows that Jack Wolmer purchased a new Plymouth Volare station wagon, manufactured by Chrysler Corporation, in October 1976. On September 27, 1977 his wife, Mary Wolmer, was riding in the back seat of the station wagon when a pickup truck, traveling at fifty-five miles per hour, hit the station wagon from behind. The Volare's fuel tank exploded on impact and Mrs. Wolmer was burned to death. Mr. Wolmer sued Chrysler on negligence and strict liability grounds. At trial, following the close of evidence, Chrysler renewed an earlier motion for a directed verdict. The trial court reserved ruling on the motion and submitted the case to the jury. The jury found for Wolmer on the negligence count, but found for Chrysler on the strict liability count. The jury assessed compensatory damages at $500,000 for Wolmer and $500,000 for the estate. It further assessed punitive damages of $3,000,000. Thereafter, the trial court ordered a remittitur of $300,000 from the $500,000 compensatory verdict for the estate or, in the alternative, a new trial on that issue. Wolmer agreed to the remittitur. The trial court later entered a second order granting Chrysler's renewed motion for a directed verdict on the issue of punitive damages. On appeal the district court reversed the second order and remanded with instructions to reinstate the punitive damage award with interest from the date of judgment. We disagree with the district court.

Chrysler raises a number of arguments against the district court's decision to reinstate the punitive damage award. We begin by examining Chrysler's contention that the court applied an erroneous standard when it examined the propriety of the punitive damage awards. In Carraway this Court made it clear that the character of negligence necessary to sustain an award of punitive damages is the same as that required to sustain a conviction for manslaughter. 116 So.2d at 20. A showing of even gross negligence, the degree of negligence that lies between ordinary negligence and willful and wanton conduct, is not enough. Id.; Como Oil Co., 466 So.2d at 1062; White Construction Co., 455 So.2d at 1028; U.S. Concrete Pipe Co. v. Bould, 437 So.2d 1061 (Fla.1983). Carraway stated:

The character of negligence necessary to sustain an award of punitive damages must be of "a gross and flagrant character, evincing reckless disregard of human life, or of the safety of persons exposed to its dangerous effects, or there is that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of a conscious indifference to consequences, or which shows wantonness or recklessness, or a grossly careless disregard of the safety and welfare of the public, or that reckless indifference to the rights of others which is equivalent to an intentional violation of them."

116 So.2d at 20, n. 12. Recently, we reaffirmed this language in White Construction Co., 455 So.2d at 1029.

While the district court began its analysis by acknowledging the applicability of the Carraway standard, it then adopted what it viewed to be a restatement of that standard for product liability cases. Adopting language from Johns-Manville Sales Corp. v. Janssens, 463 So.2d 242 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), review denied, 467 So.2d 999 (Fla.1985), the district court stated:

A legal basis for punitive damages is established in products liability cases where the manufacturer is shown to have knowledge that its product is inherently dangerous to persons or property and that its continued use is likely to cause injury or death, but nevertheless continues to market the product without making feasible modifications to eliminate the danger or making adequate disclosure and warning of such danger.

474 So.2d at 836.

This pronouncement was made in the factual context of Johns-Manville. In that case the company learned of the higher probability of danger to thousands of persons manufacturing and using asbestos products over a period of years and, despite that knowledge, made conscious decisions at the executive level not to disclose the presence of this danger nor to alert affected individuals to the potential injuries that could result from such exposure over a long period of time. 463 So.2d at 250-51. In Johns-Manville the district court determined this conduct to be of a character evincing a reckless disregard for human life or the safety of persons exposed to its dangerous effect, which supports a finding by the jury of a conscious indifference to consequences, wantonness, recklessness, and a grossly careless disregard of the safety and welfare of members of the public. Translated into the facts of the instant case, no justification for the use of the Johns-Manville standard exists.

Punitive damages are imposed in order to punish the defendant for extreme wrongdoing and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. Mercury Motors Express, Inc. v. Smith, 393 So.2d 545 (Fla.1981). They are not intended as a means by which a plaintiff can recover extra damages. Thus, punitive damages are warranted only where the egregious wrongdoing of the defendant, although perhaps not covered by criminal law, nevertheless constitutes a public wrong. Arab Termite & Pest Control, Inc. v. Jenkins, 409 So.2d 1039 (Fla.1982). Therefore, the question that must be answered utilizing the Carraway standard is whether Chrysler exhibited a reckless disregard for human life equivalent to manslaughter by designing and marketing the Volare.

To support its reinstatement of the punitive damage award, the district court undertook an extensive examination of two alleged design defects in the 1977 Volare station wagon. The court discussed both the nature of these alleged defects as well as the results of certain crash tests that Chrysler conducted on the automobile. A brief summary of that discussion is warranted here.

Chrysler designed the Volare's fuel tank so that, in the event of a rear-end collision, the tank would push forward and upward. If struck with sufficient force, the fuel tank would ride over the differential and impact against the shock absorber. In the Wolmer collision, the rear end of the pickup truck struck the rear end of the Volare with enough force that the shock absorber broke off and punctured the fuel tank as it moved forward. This puncture caused gasoline to spray from the tank, thereby fueling the accompanying explosion.

A second design characteristic involved the fuel filler tube which extended from the gas cap on the left rear quarter panel into the fuel tank. Chrysler designed the filler tube with a fixed connection at the gas cap end rather than with a breakaway connection. Where the filler tube entered into the fuel tank, a donut-shaped rubber grommet held the tube in place. Due to this design, if the rear quarter panel deflected outward during a collision, the filler tube would also pull outward. If the panel moved a sufficient distance, the tube would pull completely away from the tank, causing a fuel spillage. This occurred during the Wolmer collision.

Chrysler does not deny that both of these design characteristics had a causal relationship to the fire that consumed Mary Wolmer. Chrysler, however, maintains that the district court erred in finding that the evidence supported the inference that Chrysler had actual knowledge that the fuel system was inherently dangerous. We agree. Although the district court interpreted the results from crash tests on the 1977 Volare station wagon as putting Chrysler on notice of the fuel system defects, a closer reading of these test results does not support this interpretation.

The National Traffic Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1431 (1976), requires the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe safety standards for motor vehicles which both meet the need for motor vehicle safety and are reasonable, practicable, and appropriate. 15 U.S.C. § 1392(a) & (f)(3) (1976). Among the standards promulgated under the act is standard 301-75, which deals with fuel system integrity. 49 C.F.R. § 581.301-75 (1976). Under standard 301-75, a fuel system in a stationary vehicle hit from the rear by a 4,000-pound barrier moving at thirty miles per hour can lose no more than...