Fuqua v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 December 1991
• Docket Number: INGERSOLL-RAND
• Citation: 591 So.2d 486
• Parties: Ernest FUQUA, Jr. v.COMPANY, INC. 1901302.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 486

591 So.2d 486

Ernest FUQUA, Jr. v. INGERSOLL-RAND COMPANY, INC.

1901302.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Dec. 20, 1991.

Billy C. Burney, Decatur, and Brent M. Craig, Mobile, for appellant.

Jack B. Porterfield, Jr. of Porterfield, Harper & Mills, P.A., Birmingham, for appellee.

MADDOX, Justice.

The issue presented in this case is whether the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment for the defendant, Ingersoll-Rand Company against the plaintiff, Ernest Fuqua, Jr., an employee of the 3M Company, who was injured by an allegedly defective chain hoist. After a careful review of the evidence submitted, we find that Ingersoll-Rand failed to meet its initial burden of showing a complete absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Accordingly, we must reverse and remand.

Fuqua was an employee of 3M Company, in its Decatur, Alabama, plant. Fuqua's job at the time in question was to "build filters." Building filters involved placing a large, industrial-sized filter, along with a metal gasket, into a tubing or barrel. After inserting an "eye bolt" ¹ into the filter, Fuqua would use a chain hoist ² to move the filter from one part of the plant to a filter assembly area. Once in the filter assembly area, Fuqua would suspend the filter over the barrel, using his right hand to control the chain hoist; and then, holding the gasket in place with his left hand, Fuqua would lower the filter into the barrel. On March 28, 1987, while Fuqua was building a filter, the filter somehow slipped off the chain hoist. Two fingers of Fuqua's left hand were crushed by the weight of the filter and later required amputation.

Fuqua sued several chain hoist manufacturing companies, including the Ingersoll-Rand Company, Inc. ("Ingersoll-Rand"), and the Gardner-Denver Company, Inc. ("Gardner-Denver"), under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine ("AEMLD"). ³ Fuqua alleged that one of these companies had placed an unreasonably dangerous or defective product into the stream of commerce, and that the product had caused him injury when he used it in a normal or customary way. After substantial discovery, both Gardner-Denver and Ingersoll-Rand filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted each company's requested summary judgment. Fuqua did not appeal from the judgment entered in favor of Gardner-Denver, but did appeal from Ingersoll-Rand's summary judgment.

Initially, we note that our review of a summary judgment is de novo; that is, we must examine all the evidence that was before the trial court. Tolbert v. Gulsby, 333 So.2d 129 (Ala.1976). The two-tiered standard of review for summary judgment has been repeatedly stated: 1) there must be no genuine issues of material fact, and 2) the movant must be entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Ala.R.Civ.P. 56(c), Tripp v. Humana, Inc., 474 So.2d 88 (Ala.1985) (emphasis supplied). Further, on review of a summary judgment we must view all the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, here Fuqua; and we must entertain all reasonable inferences from the evidence in favor of the nonmovant. Fincher v. Robinson Bros. Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., 583 So.2d 256 (Ala.1991). See, also, Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So.2d 412 (Ala.1990).

One moving for a summary judgment must come forward with a prima facie showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact, and that he is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fincher, 583 So.2d at 257. If this showing is made, the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to rebut the movant's prima facie showing by "substantial evidence." Ala.Code 1975, § 12-21-12. Substantial evidence is "evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved." West v. Founders Life Assurance Co. of Florida, 547 So.2d 870, 871 (Ala.1989).

Ingersoll-Rand makes five arguments as to why there were no genuine issues of material fact, and thus why it says it was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Ingersoll-Rand says: 1) that there was no evidence that it made the chain hoist in question; 2) that there was no evidence that the chain hoist was defective; 3) that there was no evidence that the chain portion of the chain hoist was defective; 4) that there was no evidence that the hook portion of the chain hoist was defective; and 5) that, even admitting that the safety latch portion of the chain hoist was defective, there was no evidence that Ingersoll-Rand made the safety latch in question. While Ingersoll-Rand's arguments as to the hook and chain portions of the chain hoist ⁴ may be valid, we are unconvinced by the other arguments. We find that there are genuine issues of material fact that should be submitted to a jury. Two genuine issues of material fact, at the very least, are evident from our de novo review of the record: whether Ingersoll-Rand actually manufactured the chain hoist, and whether Ingersoll-Rand manufactured the safety latch attached to the hook of the chain hoist used by Fuqua on the day of the accident.

As to the issue of what company manufactured the chain hoist used by Fuqua, there was ample evidence submitted in opposition to the summary judgment motion that, when viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, could lead a fair-minded person to conclude that Ingersoll-Rand manufactured the chain hoist. The deposition testimony is replete with references to Ingersoll-Rand hoists having "bicycle" type chains, while other company's hoists have "link or log" type chains. Further, several deponents, who viewed the accident scene soon after the accident, testified that the hoist used by Fuqua had a "bicycle" type chain. This...