Ford Motor Co. v. Durrill, 13-84-390-CV

Citation714 S.W.2d 329
Decision Date29 May 1986
Docket NumberNo. 13-84-390-CV,13-84-390-CV
PartiesProd.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 11,117 FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Appellant, v. Mr. and Mrs. William R. DURRILL, et al., Appellees.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas

M.W. Meredith, Jr., Meredith & Donnell, Corpus Christi, Lewis Plunkett, Plunkett, Gibson & Allen, San Antonio, for appellant.

David L. Perry, Bob J. Spann, Spann & Smith, Russell H. McMains, Edwards, McMains & Const, Corpus Christi, for appellees.

Before NYE, C.J., and KENNEDY and DORSEY, JJ.

OPINION

NYE, Chief Justice.

This is an action brought by William and Shirley Durrill against the Ford Motor Company following an accident in which their daughter, Devary, was killed. The Mustang II vehicle Devary was driving was hit from behind by a 1972 Lincoln driven by James B. Rathmell. The car burst into flames after impact. Devary Durrill died seven and half days later of burns she sustained in the fire.

In answer to special issues, the jury found that a design defect in the automobile's fuel system and Ford's failure to warn of the dangers of fire following rear end collisions were producing causes of the occurrence. The jury also found that negligence in design and failure to warn were proximate causes of the accident. They awarded $6,861,663.00 in damages to the Durrills and assessed $100,000,000.00 in exemplary damages against Ford. The trial court ordered the Durrills to file a remittitur of $80,000,000.00 of the exemplary damages as a condition of overruling Ford's motion for new trial. Ford Motor Company brings fifty-six points of error contesting liability, damages and various evidentiary rulings. The Durrills seek reinstatement of the jury's gross negligence award and prejudgment interest. This expertly tried case took more than seven weeks to complete, resulting in a record in this Court of nearly 7,000 pages and more than 300 exhibits. We reform and will affirm the trial court's judgment on the condition of a remittitur by the appellees.

In appellant Ford's first and second points of error it argues that the jury findings on gross negligence are immaterial because as a matter of law a corporation may not be grossly negligent. Ford contends that the essence of gross negligence is a mental attitude or state of mind which a corporation itself cannot have. It concedes that a corporation may be held legally liable on the basis of the acts and state of mind of natural persons under circumstances in which those acts and state of mind can properly be imputed to the corporation. Ford argues that the Durrills made no attempt to prove knowledge, state of mind, or acts or omissions of any individual Ford employee which would provide an evidentiary predicate for corporate liability.

A review of Texas case law is contrary to Ford's argument. It shows that corporations may be held liable for gross negligence. In Ford Motor Co. v. Nowak, 638 S.W.2d 582 (Tex.App.--Corpus Christi 1982, writ ref'd n.r.e.), this court upheld a gross negligence award of $4,000,000.00 against Ford Motor Company. We did not predicate liability upon the acts of individual employees of Ford. Likewise, in Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. v. Daniels, 619 S.W.2d 435 (Tex.Civ.App.--Waco 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.) a punitive damage award of $750,000 was upheld against a company which manufactured football helmets. Recently, in International Armament Corp. v. King, 674 S.W.2d 413 (Tex.App.1984) aff'd, 686 S.W.2d 595 (Tex.1985), the Supreme Court held the evidence was sufficient for the jury to infer that Interarms intentionally did not inspect the safety related parts of the guns, but was interested only in the cosmetic appearance of its product. Again, in Monsanto Co. v. Johnson, 675 S.W.2d 305 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist] 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.), Monsanto Corporation was found grossly negligent. In each of these cases, the Courts held the manufacturer or the company liable for gross negligence without specifically requiring an identified individual to be held grossly negligent.

This is not a case in which corporate liability arises from the negligent or intentional act of an employee whose conduct was authorized or ratified by a person acting in a managerial or supervisory capacity. Rather, it involves complex company policy decisions which were made by Ford management. As such, we find that it is proper to hold Ford accountable for gross negligence. These were corporate decisions which cannot be imputed to an individual engineer, a specific division, or a single manager.

Ford also argues that the special issue which asked the jury to find what sum of money, if any, should be assessed as exemplary damages against Ford Motor Company for the death of Devary Durrill, was an immaterial issue because it asked the jury to award damages that the Durrills cannot legally recover. Ford's argument, in essence, is that the special issue was so worded that it allowed the plaintiffs to recover under the Wrongful Death Statute rather than under the Survival Statute, 1 which would have been proper. See Hofer v. Lavender, 679 S.W.2d 470 (Tex.1984). Ford's objection to the special issue was that there was no evidence to support exemplary damages and that submitting this issue in a trial which involved both strict liability and ordinary negligence was improper. There was no objection that the issue was immaterial or improperly worded.

The trial court is vested with broad discretion in determining the form of special issues to be submitted to the jury. The issue submitted may have been more properly worded to focus on the defendant's conduct as illustrated in the State Bar of Texas, Texas Pattern Jury Charges PJC 80.10 (1982) as follows:

Find from the preponderance of the evidence what sum of money, if any, should be assessed against [the defendant] as exemplary damages?

Or the issue could have asked:

What sum of money, if any, should be assessed as exemplary damages against Ford to the survivors of Devary Durrill?

Even though we find that the issue in question might have been worded differently, it was not improper.

In points of error five through fourteen, Ford challenges the evidence as legally and factually insufficient to support the jury's findings that a defectively designed Mustang II was either the producing or proximate cause of the occurrence; and that Ford's failure to warn users of the danger of fires following collisions was either the producing or proximate cause of the occurrence. In considering a "no evidence" or "insufficient evidence" point of error, we will follow the well established test set forth in Pool v. Ford Motor Company, 29 Sup.Ct.J. 301 (April 5, 1986) (not yet published); Dyson v. Olin Corp., 692 S.W.2d 456 (Tex.1985); Glover v. Texas General Indemnity Co., 619 S.W.2d 400 (Tex.1981); Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821 (Tex.1965); Allied Finance Co. v. Garza, 626 S.W.2d 120 (Tex.App.--Corpus Christi 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Calvert, No Evidence and Insufficient Evidence Points of Error, 38 Tex.L.Rev. 361 (1960).

The test for determining a design defect was reiterated in Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc., 650 S.W.2d 61, 62 (Tex.1983). The test requires a balance between the utility of the product and the risks involved in its use in order to find that a design is unreasonably dangerous. The Court, in Kindred, pointed out that in Boatland of Houston, Inc. v. Bailey, 609 S.W.2d 743, 746 (Tex.1980) they had stated:

The jury may consider many factors before deciding whether a product's usefulness or desirability are outweighed by its risks. Their finding on defectiveness may be influenced by evidence of a safer design that would have prevented the injury. [Citations omitted.] Because defectiveness of the product in question is determined in relation to safer alternatives, the fact that its risks could be diminished easily or cheaply may greatly influence the outcome of the case.

... This feasibility is a relative, not an absolute, concept; the more scientifically and economically feasible the alternative was, the more likely that a jury may find that the product was defectively designed. A plaintiff may advance the argument that a safer alternative was feasible with evidence that it was in actual use or was available at the time of manufacture. Feasibility may also be shown with evidence of the scientific and economic capacity to develop the safer alternative.

Whether a product is defectively designed must be judged against the technology existing at the time of its manufacture. A plaintiff may argue that a more scientifically and economically feasible alternative was in use or available at the time of manufacture. Ford does not challenge the special issues that concern whether there was a defect, but argues that there was a total failure of proof that the design of the car was a cause in fact of the fire.

The issue of causation is generally a question of fact: 1) when general experience and common sense will enable a layman to fairly determine the causal relationship between the event and the condition; 2) when scientific principles, (usually proved by expert testimony), establish a traceable chain of causation from the condition back to the event; and 3) when there is probable causal relationship that is shown by expert testimony. Lenger v. Physician's General Hospital, Inc. 455 S.W.2d 703, 706 (Tex.1970); Travenol Laboratories, Inc. v. Bandy Laboratories, Inc., 608 S.W.2d 308 (Tex.Civ.App.--Waco 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.). An expert opinion is legally sufficient evidence to establish a causal relationship between the condition and the event. Producing cause has been properly defined "an efficient, exciting, contributing cause which, in a natural sequence, produced the injuries complained of, if any." Rourke v. Garza, 530 S.W.2d 794, 801 (Tex.1975). Proximate cause adds the element of forseeability. In a negligence case, a party establishes liability by proof that defendant's negligence was...

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