Harmon Contract Glazing, Inc. v. Libby-Owens-Ford Co., LIBBY-OWENS-FORD

• Decision Date: 15 December 1992
• Docket Number: No. C1-92-1115,LIBBY-OWENS-FORD,C1-92-1115
• Citation: 493 N.W.2d 146
• Parties: HARMON CONTRACT GLAZING, INC., Respondent, v.COMPANY, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

Page 146

493 N.W.2d 146

HARMON CONTRACT GLAZING, INC., Respondent, v. LIBBY-OWENS-FORD COMPANY, Appellant.

No. C1-92-1115.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

Dec. 15, 1992.

Review Denied Feb. 12, 1993.

Syllabus by the Court

The method used to secure or load a product for shipment is not part of the product's "package" for products liability purposes.

Scott P. Drawe, Stich, Angell, Kreidler & Muth, P.A., Minneapolis, for appellant.

John H. Guthmann, Hansen, Dordell, Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, St. Paul, for respondent.

Considered and decided by PARKER, P.J., PETERSON and AMUNDSON, JJ.

OPINION

AMUNDSON, Judge.

Respondent commenced this subrogation action against appellant seeking reimbursement of workers' compensation benefits. The jury found appellant negligent in designing the crating, bracing and shoring system used in loading and shipping glass panes to respondent and in failing to warn of the dangers in the handling process. The trial court denied appellant's new trial motion and this appeal followed. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

Appellant Libby-Owens-Ford Company (LOF) manufactures and sells commercial glass. Respondent Harmon Contract Glazing, Inc. (Harmon) purchased glass from LOF for installation in an office building. LOF packaged the glass panes in wood crates it designed. Each crate contained 20 or 21 glass panes and weighed between 2,500 and 2,650 pounds.

LOF loaded the wood crates vertically onto the bed of a semi-trailer. Wood blocks were used to shore the crates to the floor of the trailer. Two-by-six inch boards were used to brace the crates for shipment. The crates were not individually braced. Instead, four crates at a time were braced together. The shoring and bracing were necessary to protect the glass during shipment. LOF was responsible for choosing the method used to shore and brace the crates.

On February 14, 1983, while employed by Harmon, Bradley Brezinka and Grover Blunt were assigned to unload the glass shipment. Both men had training on safe procedures for loading and unloading glass. Blunt was a journeyman with 25 years experience. Brezinka was an apprentice with several years experience. Harmon did not have a required procedure for unloading because each shipment of glass was different. Instead, the unloaders, through their experience, were to determine the best method of removal. When the truck arrived, Blunt removed the bracing from one set of four crates. He did not use temporary bracing, which was available and often used, to secure the loose crates. A sling was placed around each end of the first crate for removal by an overhead crane. Each crate had to be tipped slightly in order to get the sling around it. Blunt stood in the middle of the crates to reach up for the sling as it returned.

After two crates had been lifted out of the trailer, the remaining two unsecured crates tipped and fell on Blunt as he was reaching for the sling, crushing his chest. As they were falling, the crates caught one of Brezinka's arms and broke it. The crane lifted the crates off Blunt, but he died from his injuries.

Blunt's heirs and Brezinka commenced separate actions against LOF. LOF filed a third-party complaint for contribution against Harmon, the workers' employer at the time of the accident. Brezinka and Blunt settled their claims with LOF pursuant to Naig v. Bloomington Sanitation, 258 N.W.2d 891 (Minn.1977). In December 1986, Harmon commenced this subrogation action seeking reimbursement of workers' compensation benefits paid to Brezinka and Blunt's estate.

The testimony at trial centered on LOF's bracing system. Both parties presented evidence about different methods of bracing available in the industry. LOF contended that its method of bracing was safe and customary in the industry. It asserted that Harmon's employees should have used temporary bracing when they unloaded the crates. Harmon argued LOF was negligent in its design of the crating, bracing, and shoring system. It contended there were safer alternatives available, and LOF should have used them. It also argued that, at the very least, LOF should have warned Harmon of the dangers inherent in the system. Throughout the trial, Harmon focused on the facts that LOF was the manufacturer of the product, that LOF designed the crate and the system used to brace the glass, and that LOF had a duty to provide a product that was safe to unload.

Over LOF's objection, the jury was instructed on negligent design of a product and negligent failure to warn. LOF was found negligent under both theories and ordered to pay damages in the stipulated amount, including prejudgment and post-judgment interest.

ISSUE

For products liability purposes, does the packaging of a product include the bracing and shoring system used in loading the product for shipment?

ANALYSIS

The trial court determined the crating, bracing, and shoring of the glass panes were an integral part of LOF's product. LOF's duty of care was that of a manufacturer. Thus, the case was tried on products liability theories. Rulings on mixed questions of law and fact are not binding on an appellate court but are subject to independent review. Meyering v. Wessels, 383 N.W.2d 670, 672 (Minn.1986).

LOF contends this case involves allegations of negligent loading procedures, not the negligent design of a product. We agree and therefore conclude, for purposes of products liability, a product's packaging does not extend to the method used to secure or load it for shipment.

A manufacturer has a duty to use reasonable care when designing a product, so as to avoid any unreasonable risk of harm to anyone who is likely to be exposed to the danger. Bilotta v. Kelley Co., 346 N.W.2d 616, 621 (Minn.1984). Minnesota has recognized that a design defect may be in the product itself, in its preparation, in its container or packaging, or in the instructions necessary for its safe use. Hauenstein v. Loctite Corp., 347 N.W.2d 272, 275 (Minn.1984). A product includes its container or package if that container or package is an integral part of the product. See, e.g., Cerepak v. Revlon, Inc., 294 Minn. 268, 270, 200 N.W.2d 33, 35 (1972) (glass deodorant bottle); Holkestad v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 288 Minn. 249, 255, 180 N.W.2d 860, 865 (1970) (soft-drink bottle). These decisions are based in part on the idea that:

No reason is apparent for distinguishing between the product itself and the container in which it is supplied; and the two are purchased by the user or consumer as an integrated whole. * * * The container cannot logically be separated from the contents when the two are sold as a unit.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A, cmt. h (1965).

The product here is the glass panes. The product's container could conceivably include the wood crates, since the two were sold as a unit. Harmon maintains the bracing system used by LOF in securing the crates for shipment was part of the product's "package." It further contends the bracing system was defective, which made unloading the semi-trailer unreasonably dangerous. It is evident that the glass panes and wood crates were intended to be sold as a unit. However, the glass and the bracing system were not sold as an integrated whole. Bracing the crates to the semi-trailer was done simply to secure the load for shipping. Any product, whatever its nature, can cause damage by careless handling. While the method used to secure the product for shipment is an essential component in assuring that the product is delivered unharmed, it cannot be interpreted to be an integral part of the product itself.

Harmon argues that LOF's duties equaled those of a product manufacturer because LOF manufactured the glass and wood crates and was personally responsible for loading and shipping the product. Public policy demands that greater duties of care be placed on manufacturers in order to protect consumers from the risks of harm to life and health. One such greater duty is the requirement to keep informed of scientific knowledge and discoveries in its field. 4 Minnesota Practice, CIVJIG 119 (1986); see also Willmar Poultry Co. v. Carus Chem. Co., 378 N.W.2d 830, 837 (Minn.App.1985), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. Feb. 14, Feb. 19, 1986). By maintaining this information, the manufacturer is in the position to most effectively reduce or eliminate the risk. The consumer normally does not possess the skill or the means necessary to protect himself from injury. McCormack v. Hankscraft Co., 278 Minn. 322, 338, 154 N.W.2d 488, 500 (1967).

Harmon, however, is not in the same position as a typical consumer. Blunt and Brezinka were both skilled and experienced with unloading procedures. The bracing system was not used exclusively by LOF, and Harmon's workers had seen it before. Brezinka testified he previously unloaded crates, similar in size and shape, from various manufacturers that used the same bracing method. The technological information regarding the dangers involved with the bracing system could equally have been obtained by Harmon. In fact, temporary bracing was available and often used by Harmon employees.

In support of its argument, Harmon points to three cases outside this jurisdiction where products liability theories were applicable. In Lewis v. Stran Steel Corp., 57 Ill.2d 94, 311 N.E.2d 128 (1974), bundles of steel flooring were...