Curcio v. Caterpillar, Inc.
| Decision Date | 07 February 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 3307.,3307. |
| Citation | 344 S.C. 266,543 S.E.2d 264 |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Pamela C. CURCIO, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Dennis M. Turner, Appellant, v. CATERPILLAR, INC. a.k.a Caterpillar Tractor Company, Respondent. |
John Kassel and B. Randall Dong, of Suggs & Kelly, of Columbia, for appellant.
W. Frances Marion, Jr., of Haynsworth, Sinkler & Boyd, of Greenville, for respondent.
A jury awarded Pamela C. Curcio, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Dennis M. Turner, $500,000 in a wrongful death action against Caterpillar, Inc. The trial court later set the verdict aside and dismissed the complaint. Curcio appeals. We affirm.
Turner worked as a heavy-equipment mechanic for Blanchard Machinery Company in Simpsonville, South Carolina. On March 23, 1994, he was crushed to death while performing maintenance on a Caterpillar 953 Track Loader. The Caterpillar 953 Track Loader operates on a series of hydraulic pumps. The cab of the loader is located over the engine and pumps. To remove the engine for repairs, the cab must be tilted forward. The Caterpillar Disassembly & Assembly Manual gives instructions for tilting the cab to either 24 degrees or 90 degrees. At either position, the cab is bolted to the frame of the machine to hold it in place, and brace bars are provided for this purpose. If the cab is not bolted to the frame, it is chained to the front implement of the machine.
According to the manual, the engine can be started when the cab is tilted to 24 degrees, but the transmission stays in a neutral position. In contrast, the manual has the following warning for tilting the cab to 90 degrees:
(Boldface in original.) In addition, a warning in boldface print appears near the beginning of the manual advising service personnel to "[d]isconnect batteries before performance of any service work."
As noted in the manual, various warnings appear on the loader itself. Located adjacent to where the brace is bolted to the frame when the loader is tilted to 24 degrees is the following alert:
(Boldface in original, underlining added.)
To remove the engine for repairs, Turner had the cab tilted to an angle greater than 90 degrees so that it rested on the tilt cylinders in a "laid-over" position. Although Caterpillar did not include this procedure in the manual, several mechanics testified that they chose to use it because it appeared less precarious than the 90-degree position and required less time. Dr. Jeffrey Warren, Curcio's mechanical engineering expert witness, testified that, in the 90-degree position, the 1,933pound cab is held in place by only the installation of a small bracket with a single bolt. In contrast, Warren testified that 1,148 pounds of force would be necessary to pick up the cab from its laid-over position and cause it to tip over onto the person working beneath it.
Contrary to the practice of other mechanics who used the laid-over position, Turner did not chain the cab. Furthermore, he apparently made no attempt to bolt the cab to the frame. It appears that, after removing and overhauling the engine of the loader, Turner was crushed to death beneath the cab while he was preparing to insert the engine back into the loader. No one saw the accident happen.
Turner's coworkers discovered his body lying between the transmission and the cab. Mechanics observed that the battery disconnect key was in the ignition switch in the "on" position and the batteries were connected. The loader bucket, which had earlier been down, was raised because an implement control lever was inadvertently moved to the "raise" position, activating the hydraulic system. Investigators surmised that the lift arms and bucket moved, causing the cab to fall on Turner. Mechanic Ben Samuel testified that, if Turner had used the 24-degree brace, the brace would have caught the cab and the accident would not have happened.
Curcio, in her capacity as personal representative of Turner's estate, filed this action asserting claims for negligence, strict liability, and breach of implied warranty. She later voluntarily dismissed the warranty claim and proceeded to trial on the two remaining claims.
Curcio argued Caterpillar was negligent in designing and manufacturing the loader and in failing to warn of foreseeable dangers associated with its use and maintenance. Curcio further contended the loader was unreasonably dangerous because of the absence of an electrical interlock device that allegedly could have prevented the accident.
Caterpillar took the position that Turner disregarded warnings to disconnect the batteries and secure the cab properly. In response to these contentions, Curcio called Warren, who testified the warning on the loader not to "run" the engine was inadequate because it fell short of cautioning service personnel not to "crank" the engine. Warren stated that, to him, "there's a big difference from a mechanic's point of view as to whether he's cranking the engine or running the engine." Warren also testified that an electrical interlock device would have prevented the accident and that the cost for including such a device would most likely have been minimal.
At the close of Curcio's case, Caterpillar moved unsuccessfully for a directed verdict arguing: (1) the warnings on the loader were adequate and Turner's failure to follow those warnings was the proximate cause of his death, and (2) an interlock device was not only unnecessary but ineffective in that it would only disable the ignition switch, which would necessarily have been disconnected once the cab was tilted past 90 degrees. At the close of the testimony, Caterpillar renewed its motion on the same grounds stated in its initial motion, but elaborated on them by further submitting that: (1) the interlock device would not have prevented Turner's death because of evidence that Turner had bypassed the electrical system,2 and (2) the failure to use the term "crank" in the warning was not evidence that the warning was deficient. Again, the trial court denied the motion and submitted the issues of negligence and strict liability to the jury. The jury found for Caterpillar on the negligence action, but awarded Curcio $500,000 on her strict liability claim.
Caterpillar moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial. The trial court granted a new trial on the marital relationship between Curcio and Turner.3 In addition, the trial court held that the warnings were adequate as a matter of law, but found there was sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict based on the defective design claim.
Pursuant to a subsequent motion by Caterpillar under Rule 59(e), SCRCP, however, the trial court reviewed the matter and set the verdict aside, holding, "South Carolina law does not require that a manufacturer refine a product, if it is safe when used in accordance with adequate warnings."
Curcio first argues the trial court's decision to set the verdict aside should be reversed because she presented evidence at trial that the warning was inadequate. Specifically, she contends the trial court impermissibly weighed the evidence in discounting Warren's testimony that the warning was ambiguous. We reject this argument.
In Chapter 73 of Title 15 of the South Carolina Code, the South Carolina General Assembly adopted verbatim section 402A of the Restatement, Second, of Torts (1965) to provide as follows:
The comments to section 402A have been incorporated by reference as the legislative intent of Chapter 73.5 Citing comment j, this court has stated that "a seller may prevent a product from being `unreasonably dangerous' if the seller places an adequate warning on the product regarding its use."6
The trial court initially...
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