Densberger v. United Technologies Corp.

• Decision Date: 24 October 2000
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A. 3:96CV532JCH.,Civ.A. 3:96CV532JCH.
• Citation: 125 F.Supp.2d 585
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Kathleen DENSBERGER, Individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Colonel William Densberger, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Defendant.

125 F.Supp.2d 585

Kathleen DENSBERGER, Individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Colonel William Densberger, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. Civ.A. 3:96CV532JCH.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

October 24, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Francis G. Fleming, Brian J. Alexander, Kreindler & Kreindler, New York, NY, William R. Davis, Andrew S. Groher, Riscassi & Davis, P.C., Hartford, CT, Thomas J. Harlan, Jr., Harlan & Flora, Norfolk, VA, Robert F. Spohrer, Floyd L. Matthews, Sean B. Cronin, Spohrer, Wilner, Maxwell & Matthews, Jacksonville, FL, Donald Maciejewski, Zisser, Robison, Brown, Nowlis, & Maciejewski, Jacksonville, FL, for Kathleen Densberger, Eric Johnson.

William R. Davis, Andrew S. Groher, Riscassi & Davis, P.C., Hartford, CT, Thomas J. Harlan, Jr., Harlan & Flora, Norfolk, VA, Robert F. Spohrer, Floyd L. Matthews, Sean B. Cronin, Spohrer, Wilner, Maxwell & Matthews, Jacksonville, FL, Donald Maciejewski, Zisser, Robison, Brown, Nowlis, & Maciejewski, Jacksonville, FL, for Mary Ann Kelly, Lisa Rhodes Truluck, Deborah L. Robertson, Christopher Mancini, Wendy Mancini.

Francis H. Morrison, III, Day, Berry & Howard, Hartford, CT, Raymond Mariani, Dombroff & Gilmore, New York City, Mark A. Dombroff, Drombroff & Gilmore, Washington, DC, for United Technologies Corp.

RULING ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW AND FOR A NEW TRIAL AND/OR ALTERATION OR AMENDMENT OF JUDGMENT [DKT. NO. 285]

HALL, District Judge.

This case involves the crash of a United States Army ESSS-equipped Blackhawk helicopter in Germany in 1993. The plaintiffs in this action are two men injured in the crash, including one of the helicopter's pilots, and the widows of four other men who died in the crash. The defendant is United Technologies Corporation ("UTC"), which manufactured the airframe and some component parts in its Sikorsky helicopter division of the product at issue: the Blackhawk helicopter bearing serial number 88-26059 sold and delivered to the Army by UTC, which helicopter was factory-equipped with hard points capable of accepting an ESSS kit, and an ESSS kit, which was also sold and delivered to the Army by UTC (without ESSS fuel tanks).¹

The case involves a dispute over whether UTC manufactured a defective helicopter, and, if so, whether UTC should be held liable for the crash. The plaintiffs alleged that the aircraft was defective and negligently designed and manufactured in that it was dangerously unstable and not crashworthy. Specifically, the plaintiffs brought a cause of action under the Connecticut Product Liability Act ("CPLA") on the basis of three theories of liability: strict liability in tort, negligence, and breach of implied warranty of merchantability. Under each of these three theories of liability, the plaintiffs proceeded on three factual allegations: 1) UTC failed to calculate a proper lateral center of gravity envelope for the ESSS-equipped Blackhawk helicopter sold and delivered to the Army by UTC; 2) UTC failed to warn the Army that this helicopter could become uncontrollable during foreseeable flight conditions; and 3) the helicopter that UTC manufactured and sold to the Army was not sufficiently crashworthy.

UTC denied the plaintiffs' allegations. UTC also raised four special defenses: the government contractor defense, superseding cause, alteration/modification, and comparative negligence.

Following trial, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs on their cause of action under the CPLA on a negligence theory of liability based on the plaintiffs' factual allegation that "UTC failed to warn the Army that [the Blackhawk helicopter bearing serial number 88-26059 sold and delivered to the Army by UTC, which helicopter was factory-equipped with hard points capable of accepting an ESSS kit, and an ESSS kit, which was also sold and delivered to the Army by UTC (without fuel tanks)], could become uncontrollable during foreseeable flight conditions." Special Verdict Form (Dkt. No. 279) at ¶ 2(b). The jury found against UTC on its four special defenses. Id. at ¶¶ 5, 7-8, 10.

At the close of the plaintiffs' case-in-chief, UTC moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a) for judgment as a matter of law on the grounds of superseding causation or plaintiffs' failure to prove causation, and plaintiffs' lack of proof to support an award of punitive damages. Trial Tr. (Dkt. No. 257) at 1515. The court reserved on the motion. Id. at 1524. UTC then renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law at the close of the evidence. Tr. of Motion Hearing on June 2, 2000 at 2. UTC now renews its motion for judgment as a matter of law, or motion for j.n.o.v., pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 50(b)(1)(C) and seeks, in the alternative, a remittitur of certain damage awards or a new trial under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a) and 59(e). See UTC's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, New Trial, or Alteration or Amendment of Judgment (Dkt. No. 285). For the following reasons, the court denies UTC's motion.

I. Defendant's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

A. Standard

Rule 50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows for the entry of judgment as a matter of law if a jury returns a verdict for which there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis. The standard under Rule 50 is the same as that for summary judgment: A court may not grant a Rule 50 motion unless "the evidence is such that, without weighing the credibility of the witnesses or otherwise considering the weight of the evidence, there can be but one conclusion as to the verdict that reasonable [persons] could have reached." This Is Me, Inc. v. Taylor, 157 F.3d 139, 142 (2d Cir.1998) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, in deciding such a motion, "the court must give deference to all credibility determinations and reasonable inferences of the jury ... and it may not itself weigh the credibility of the witnesses or consider the weight of the evidence." Galdieri-Ambrosini v. Nat'l Realty & Dev. Corp., 136 F.3d 276, 289 (2d Cir.1998) (citations omitted). In short, the court cannot "substitute its judgment for that of the jury." LeBlanc-Sternberg v. Fletcher, 67 F.3d 412, 429 (2d Cir.1995) (citations omitted). Rather, judgment as a matter of law may only be granted if:

(1) there is such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or

(2) there is such an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of the movant that reasonable and fair minded persons could not arrive at a verdict against it.

Galdieri-Ambrosini, 136 F.3d at 289 (quoting Cruz v. Local Union No. 3 of the Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 34 F.3d 1148, 1154 (2d Cir.1994)) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Moreover, "weakness of the evidence does not justify judgment as a matter of law; as in the case of a grant of summary judgment, the evidence must be such that `a reasonable juror would have been compelled to accept the view of the moving party.'" This Is Me, Inc., 157 F.3d at 142 (quoting Piesco v. Koch, 12 F.3d 332, 341, 343 (2d Cir.1993)). The court "must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party in whose favor the verdict was rendered, giving that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences that the jury might have drawn in his favor." Norton v. Sam's Club, 145 F.3d 114, 118 (2d Cir. 1998) (citation omitted). Thus, "[a] party seeking to overturn a verdict based on the sufficiency of the evidence bears a very heavy burden." Id.

Furthermore, Rule 50(b) provides:

If, for any reason, the court does not grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law made at the close of all the evidence, the court is considered to have submitted the action to the jury subject to the court's later deciding the legal questions raised by the motion. The movant may renew its request for judgment as a matter of law by filing a motion no later than 10 days after entry of judgment — and may alternatively request a new trial or join a motion for a new trial under Rule 59.

Procedurally, then, "`[a] motion for j.n.o.v. is technically a renewal of a motion for a directed verdict.' ... Thus, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) generally proscribes judgment n.o.v. on any ground not specifically raised in an earlier motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence." Doctor's Assocs., Inc. v. Weible, 92 F.3d 108, 112 (2d Cir.1996) (citations omitted).

In this case, UTC moved for judgment as a matter of law on two grounds at the close of the plaintiffs' case and again at the close of the evidence: superseding causation or plaintiffs' failure to prove causation, and the lack of proof to support punitive damages.² See Tr. of Motion Hearing on June 2, 2000 at 2; Trial Tr. (Dkt. No. 257) at 1515. The law of the Second Circuit is clear that, "if an issue is not raised in a previous motion for a directed verdict, a Rule 50(b) motion should not be granted unless it is `required to prevent manifest injustice.'" Cruz, 34 F.3d at 1155 (citation omitted). The Second Circuit has further articulated the contours of the relationship between issues raised in motions for judgment as a matter of law at trial and post-trial:

Under Rule 50(a), a party may move for judgment as a matter of law ("JMOL") during trial at any time prior to the submission of the case to the jury. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(2). The Rule requires the party making such a motion to "specify the judgment sought and the law and the facts on which the moving party is entitled to the judgment." Id. After an unfavorable verdict, Rule 50(b) allows the party to "renew" its motion. "The posttrial motion is limited to those grounds that were `specifically raised in the prior motion for [JMOL]'"; the movant is not permitted to add new grounds after trial....

Although Rule 50(a) "does not define how specific" the motion...