Germann v. F.L. Smithe Mach. Co.

• Decision Date: 14 November 1986
• Docket Number: No. C9-85-1442,C9-85-1442
• Citation: 395 N.W.2d 922
• Parties: , Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P. 11,175 Dan GERMANN, Respondent, v. F.L. SMITHE MACHINE COMPANY, Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant, Quality Park Products, Third Party Defendant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 922

395 N.W.2d 922

55 USLW 2328, Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P. 11,175

Dan GERMANN, Respondent, v. F.L. SMITHE MACHINE COMPANY, Defendant and Third Party

Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant,

Quality Park Products, Third Party Defendant.

No. C9-85-1442

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Nov. 14, 1986.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Manufacturer of industrial machine that posed danger of injury to operator if operated without a manufacturer-provided safety device had the duty to warn users or operators of the machine of the existence of the danger, when removal of the safety device by others was foreseeable.

2. Answers of the jury to interrogatories on the special verdict were neither inconsistent, nor were they clearly erroneous.

Henry A. Cousineau, Jr., Bruce D. Elliot, Minneapolis, for F.L. Smithe Mach. Co.

Steven J. Kirsh, Michael S. Ryan, St. Paul, for Dan Germann.

Michael Forde, Minneapolis, for Quality Park Products.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

KELLEY, Justice.

The manufacturer properly designed an industrial hydraulic press by equipping it with safety devices. Had those devices as designed been properly attached to the hydraulic press, an operator of the machine would not have sustained an injury. The question presented is whether, under existing circumstances, the manufacturer had the legal duty to warn users or operators of the machine of the dangers inherent in its operation without having the designed safety devices functionally operative. The trial court and the court of appeals ¹ ruled it did have such a duty. We concur and affirm.

In 1975 appellant F.L. Smithe Machine Company (Smithe) delivered to Quality Park Products (Quality Park) a programmable hydraulic press (hereinafter referred to as PHP 33) in two separate crates. The stationary table for the machine was in one crate; the operating and moving machinery was in the other. Smithe provided manuals containing instructions for assembling and maintenance of the PHP 33. Employees of Quality Park, using those manuals, assembled the machine. As part of the assembly, a safety bar needed to be attached to the machine. When properly placed, the safety bar would prevent the operator from being injured as the result of entanglement of body members in the "pinch point" between the moving and stationary tables that were part of the press. On original assembly, by following Smithe's manual instructions and diagrams, Quality Park's employees properly attached the safety bar. Because the safety bar was located between the moving and stationary tables of the press, it had to be removed in order to permit access to the machine for maintenance and repair. From the time of the original assembly of the press by Quality Park's employees until the date of the accident, the safety bar had been removed for maintenance service on only one or two occasions. But on the day of the accident giving rise to this case, the safety bar was unattached.

More than six years after the installation and assembly of the PHP 33, respondent Germann, a Quality Park employee, sustained serious injuries to his left leg when it became caught in the press between the moving and stationary table.

At the time of the accident Quality Park had three PHP's in its plant. The two others were similar to the PHP 33 except the latter was equipped with additional safety devices not attached to the other two. At the time of the accident Germann was operating the PHP 33, which he had operated previously on a number of occasions. Undisputed evidence clearly establishes that the safety bar was not in place at the time of the accident, and had not been for months. ²

Germann sought personal injury damages from appellant Smithe claiming that the PHP 33 had been defectively designed, and that Smithe had failed to adequately warn operators of dangers connected with the machine's use when functional safety equipment was not attached. Smithe impleaded Quality Park. At trial the jury found (1) that the PHP 33 was not defective because of design, but (2) that the PHP 33 was defective because Smithe failed to provide adequate warnings for the safe use of the product. ³ Following the verdict, Smithe moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial. The trial court denied both motions and the court of appeals affirmed.

1. The primary issue raised in this appeal is whether Smithe had the legal duty to warn users of the dangers of using the PHP 33 when the safety bar was not properly attached. The question of whether a legal duty to warn exists is a question of law for the court--not one for jury resolution. Prosser and Keeton, The Law of Torts Sec. 37, p. 236 (5th ed. 1984); Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 328B (1965).

Smithe contends it had no duty to provide warnings as to the unsafe operation of a machine it manufactured (i.e. PHP 33) when it had provided a safety bar which, if properly installed and maintained, would have prevented the accident. The danger caused by the absence of the safety bar, it contends, was solely due to the neglect of Quality Park in its failure to properly maintain the safety bar in place. It relies on Westerberg v. School District 792, 276 Minn. 1, 148 N.W.2d 312 (1967) where we noted the duty to warn rests directly on the foreseeability of the injury. 276 Minn. at 9, 148 N.W.2d at 317. Improper use of the product, however, resulting from such things as improper maintenance need not be anticipated by the manufacturer. 276 Minn. at 7-8, 148 N.W.2d at 316. See also Rogers v. Unimac Co., 115 Ariz. 304, 565 P.2d 181 (1977).

While not disagreeing that foreseeability of injury is the linchpin for determination whether a duty to warn exists, Germann responds that because Smithe designed the press with a removable safety bar, a design that, in fact, requires its removal for the machine's maintenance, Smithe reasonably knew or should have recognized the potentiality that the bar might not be properly replaced. Germann argues Smithe should, therefore, have warned operators, by the attachment of a warning decal or by other appropriate means, that for the safe operation of the machine, the safety bar should be properly installed and functional.

As indicated, whether there exists a duty is a legal issue for court resolution. Green, Foreseeability in Negligence Law, 61 Colum.L.Rev. 1401, 1408 (1961). In determining whether the duty exists, the court goes to the event causing the damage and looks back to the alleged negligent act. If the connection is too remote to impose liability as a matter of public policy, the courts then hold there is no duty, and consequently no liability. On the other hand, if the consequence is direct and is the type of occurrence that was or should have been reasonably foreseeable, the courts then hold as a matter of law a duty exists. Other issues such as adequacy of the warning, breach of duty and causation remain for jury resolution. Christianson v. Chicago St. P., M. & O. Ry. Co., 67 Minn. 94, 69 N.W. 640 (1896).

Appellant reads Westerberg to limit the duty issue so as to relieve the manufacturer from providing an adequate warning against misuse. Such a reading, in our view, extends Westerberg beyond its actual holding. In Westerberg the court did...