Ford v. GACS Inc.

• Decision Date: 10 April 2001
• Docket Number: 00-1352,Nos. 00-1043,s. 00-1043
• Citation: 265 F.3d 670
• Parties: (8th Cir. 2001) ROBERT FORD; BOBBIE SUE FORD, APPELLEES, v. GACS, INC., APPELLANT. ROBERT FORD; BOBBIE SUE FORD, APPELLANTS, v. GACS, INC.; GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, APPELLEES. Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 670

265 F.3d 670 (8th Cir. 2001)

ROBERT FORD; BOBBIE SUE FORD, APPELLEES, v. GACS, INC., APPELLANT.

ROBERT FORD; BOBBIE SUE FORD, APPELLANTS, v. GACS, INC.; GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, APPELLEES.

Nos. 00-1043, 00-1352

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: April 10, 2001

Filed: September 7, 2001

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied: October 16, 2001.^*

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before Hansen and Bye, Circuit Judges, and Melloy,¹ District Judge.

Hansen, Circuit Judge.

GACS, Inc. (hereinafter "GACS") appeals from the district court's denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury verdict awarding Robert Ford both compensatory and punitive damages on his products liability and negligence claims for injuries he sustained while using a product designed by GACS. Robert Ford and Bobbie Sue Ford cross-appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of General Motors Corporation (hereinafter "GM") related to the same incident. We affirm the jury's award of compensatory damages to Mr. Ford but we reverse the district court's denial of GACS's motion for judgment as a matter of law on the punitive damages. We also affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment to GM.

I.

These appeals arise from the use of a ratchet system used to tie down new automobiles to an automobile transport trailer during highway transport. Robert Ford was a truck driver who hauled new automobiles for his employer, Complete Auto Transit. He was injured while untying a one-ton pickup from his trailer. GACS designed and manufactured the ratchet system used by Mr. Ford when he was injured, and GACS sold the trailer on which it was mounted to his employer.

Understanding the mechanics of the ratchet tie-down system designed by GACS is critical to Ford's claims of negligence and product defect. Ford's trailer was equipped with a chain and ratchet system, a very manual-intensive process that is commonly used by automobile transporters. To secure a hauled vehicle to the trailer, the driver attaches the hooked end of a chain to a preformed slot on the vehicle's frame and the other end of the chain is affixed to the ratchet device's spool, which is mounted on the trailer. The ratchet is then rotated to tighten the chain around the spool, pulling the hauled vehicle down against the resistance offered by its own suspension system. As the ratchet is rotated, a pawl clicks into place in the ratchet's gear-like teeth, which in turn prevents the spool from reversing rotation and the chain from loosening. The driver uses a "tie down bar," a steel rod about three feet long, which is inserted into holes around the outside of the ratchet, to gain the leverage needed to turn the spool sufficiently to tighten down the vehicle. Because the pawl clicks into place automatically as the spool is turned, the driver is able to use both hands and both arms to exert force on the tie down bar to tie down the vehicle. A separate ratchet and chain device secures each corner of the transported vehicle.

A vehicle is "untied" by reversing the process. To loosen the chain, the driver pulls down on the tie down bar exerting enough countervailing force to take the pressure off the pawl so that he can flip the pawl out of the way and allow the ratchet to unwind and loosen the chain in short increments. The driver generally uses both arms and both hands to apply the force required on the tie down bar to further tighten the chain enough so as to free up the pawl. Once the driver has released the pressure against the pawl, however, he must use one hand to flip the pawl out of the way while maintaining the extra force necessary to hold the tie down bar in position with the other arm.

GM, as an automobile manufacturer, worked closely with others in the automobile transportation industry to continually develop and to improve the equipment used to haul its automobiles. GM organized the GM Haulaway Committee, consisting of carriers that regularly transported GM vehicles and trailer manufacturers, which, among other things, shared new ideas and concepts related to shipping automobiles. As early as 1979, studies concerning injuries to drivers during the tying and untying processes were reported at various GM Haulaway Committee meetings. GACS's president, Earl Lempke, attended many of the GM Haulaway Committee meetings at which driver injuries were discussed.

GACS developed a quick release ratchet in 1979 that allowed the driver to untie the vehicle without manually lifting the pawl out of the way, resulting in a quicker and safer procedure for untying vehicles. GACS did not equip the trailers that it manufactured with the quick release ratchet at that time, however, because GM did not approve of its carriers using the quick release ratchet because of potential damage to the vehicle being transported. GM required that equipment used to haul its new vehicles be approved by GM and comply with procedures outlined in GM's shipping manual. The manual explained the proper procedure for tying down vehicles to avoid damage to the vehicle. It did not address safety issues and GM was not involved in training any of the carriers' employees. GACS developed various alternatives to the traditional chain and ratchet system which would have eliminated the need for countervailing manual force to untie vehicles during the 1980s and early 1990s, none of which were approved by GM. GM finally approved of a quick release ratchet in 1994, after Mr. Ford was injured. GACS incorporated the quick release ratchet into its trailers soon after it was approved by GM.

Mr. Ford had 28 years of experience as an automobile hauler at the time of his injury. Ford's injury occurred on December 15, 1993, while he was untying a one-ton pickup from his load. Ford testified that he had over-tightened that particular vehicle to meet the 13 feet 6 inch load height limitation for transport on Interstate highways, although he had been instructed by his employer to request a change in the load configuration rather than to overtighten a vehicle down to meet the load height requirement. Attempting to untie the truck, Ford pulled down on the tie down bar to slacken the pressure on the pawl, and as he removed one hand from the tie down bar to reach up and flip the pawl out of the way, he "felt a sudden snap or sudden release, and excruciating pain" in his shoulder. (Tr. at 83.) Ford tore his rotator cuff and was never able to return to work as an automobile hauler.

Prior to trial, the district court granted GM's motion for summary judgment. The case proceeded to trial against GACS. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Ford on both of his claims, assessing his total compensatory damages at $150,000. The district court reduced the compensatory award to $105,000 based on the jury's apportionment of fault. The jury also awarded Ford $200,000 in punitive damages.

II. GACS's Appeal

Following the jury verdict, GACS moved for judgment as a matter of law, or alternatively for a new trial, which the district court denied. On appeal, GACS argues that the compensatory damages cannot stand as a matter of law under either the negligence claim or the products liability claim because any danger presented by the device was open and obvious. It argues that the punitive damages cannot stand because there was no evidence of evil motive. Finally, GACS argues that the district court erred in denying its motion for a new trial based on improper jury instructions related to Ford's duty to mitigate damages.

A. Products Liability

We review de novo the district court's denial of GACS's motion for judgment as a matter of law. "Judgment as a matter of law is proper only when there is a complete absence of probative facts to support the conclusion reached so that no reasonable juror could have found for the nonmoving party." Foster v. Time Warner Entm't Co., L.P., 250 F.3d 1189, 1194 (8th Cir. 2001) (internal quotations and citations omitted). The parties agree that Missouri law controls this case, which reaches us by reason of the parties' diverse citizenship.

GACS argues that the alleged danger-which it defines as requiring excessive force to operate the ratchet-was open and obvious because Ford had used the ratchet and applied similar force thousands of times over his 28 years as an automobile hauler. GACS argues that the openness and obviousness of the danger precludes liability as a matter of law. In the context of a Missouri products liability claim, however, the openness and obviousness of a defect does not automatically preclude judgment. The Missouri legislature abolished contributory fault for products liability cases, replacing it with pure comparative fault. See Miller v. Varity Corp., 922 S.W.2d 821, 826 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996) (discussing the effect of Missouri's adoption of comparative fault on products liability claims involving open and obvious dangers). The plaintiff's knowledge of a danger is one of the enumerated items of fault to be compared in a products liability case. See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.765(3)(3); see also Miller, 922 S.W.2d at 826 (holding that the open and obvious nature of a defect does not bar recovery but is appropriately considered in apportioning fault). Thus, under Missouri products liability law, the openness and obviousness of any alleged design defect in the ratchet does not preclude recovery as a matter of law. See Anderson v. F.J. Little Mach. Co., 68 F.3d 1113, 1117 & n.2 (8th Cir. 1995) (reversing summary judgment in a products liability case under Missouri law and noting that although the obviousness of a defect is material, it "stops far short of compelling judgment for the manufacturer, and indeed demonstrates that a fact finder must consider the issue").

GACS's argument that...