Henry v. Raynor Mfg. Co.

• Decision Date: 21 November 1990
• Docket Number: No. 3-90 CIV 226.,3-90 CIV 226.
• Citation: 753 F. Supp. 278
• Parties: George D. HENRY, Individually and as Trustee for the Heirs and Next-of-Kin of Abigael J. Henry, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. RAYNOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, d/b/a Raynor Garage Doors, an Illinois Corporation, The Edwards Power Door Company and its Corporate Parents and Successors, Celotex Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, Jim Walter Corporation, a Florida Corporation, Wayne-Dalton Corporation, an Ohio Corporation, Pioneer Overhead Door, Inc., a Nebraska Corporation, and Edward Power Door, Inc., a Nebraska Corporation, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

753 F. Supp. 278

George D. HENRY, Individually and as Trustee for the Heirs and Next-of-Kin of Abigael J. Henry, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. RAYNOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, d/b/a Raynor Garage Doors, an Illinois Corporation, The Edwards Power Door Company and its Corporate Parents and Successors, Celotex Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, Jim Walter Corporation, a Florida Corporation, Wayne-Dalton Corporation, an Ohio Corporation, Pioneer Overhead Door, Inc., a Nebraska Corporation, and Edward Power Door, Inc., a Nebraska Corporation, Defendants.

No. 3-90 CIV 226.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.

November 21, 1990.

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi by Leo F. Feeney and Vincent J. Moccio, St. Paul, Minn., for plaintiff.

Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel by Richard H. Krochock and Deborah C. Ecklund, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendant Raynor Mfg. Co.

Murnane, Conlin, White, Brandt & Hoffman by Hal A. Shillingstad, St. Paul, Minn., for defendants Jim Walter Corp. and Wayne-Dalton Corp.

ORDER

ALSOP, Chief Judge.

The above entitled matter came before the court on defendant Raynor Manufacturing Company's, Jim Walter Corporation's, and Wayne-Dalton Corporation's motions for summary judgment on November 9, 1990, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(b).

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Supreme Court has held that summary judgment is to be used as a tool to isolate and dispose of claims or defenses which are either factually unsupported or which are based on undisputed facts. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hegg v. United States, 817 F.2d 1328, 1331 (8th Cir.1987). Summary judgment is proper, however, only if examination of the evidence in a light most favorable to the non-moving party reveals no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The test for whether there is a genuine issue over a material fact is two-fold. First, the materiality of a fact is determined from the substantive law governing the claim. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit are relevant on summary judgment. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512; Lomar Wholesale Grocery, Inc. v. Dieter's Gourmet Foods, Inc., 824 F.2d 582, 585 (8th Cir.1987). Second, any dispute over material fact must be "genuine." A dispute is genuine if the evidence is such that it could cause a reasonable jury to return a verdict for either party. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512. It is the non-moving party's burden to demonstrate that there is evidence to support each essential element of his claim. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On October 5, 1988, Abigael Henry, age nine, died of suffocation when entrapped by an automatically operated garage door at her home in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. On March 19, 1990, plaintiff George D. Henry, individually and as trustee for the heirs and next of kin of Abigael J. Henry, brought this wrongful death action against various defendants, including Raynor Manufacturing Company, d/b/a Raynor Garage Doors ("Raynor"), the manufacturer of the garage door located at the Henry residence, and the Edwards Power Door Company ("Edwards"), the manufacturer of the automatic garage door opener located at the Henry residence, and the alleged corporate parents and successors of Edwards, including the Jim Walter Corporation ("JWC") and Wayne-Dalton Corporation ("Wayne-Dalton").

Counts I, II and III allege negligence, breach of express and implied warranties, and strict liability causes of action against Raynor Manufacturing. Similarly, Counts IV, V and VI allege negligence, breach of express and implied warranties and strict liability against defendant Edwards Power Door Company and its corporate parents and successors.

The home in which the Henrys lived at the time of this accident is located at 9340 Cedar Forest in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The plaintiff does not dispute that the garage door, its torsion springs, and the automatic door opener were installed in 1975, more than ten years before the accident that resulted in Abigael Henry's death.

Raynor, JWC, and Wayne-Dalton have brought motions for summary judgment alleging the plaintiff's claims are barred by the Minnesota Wrongful Death Statute, Minn.Stat. § 573.02, and the Improvement to Real Property Statute, Minn.Stat. § 541.051.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Wrongful Death Statute

Defendants first contend that plaintiff's wrongful death causes of action are barred by Minnesota's wrongful death statute. Minn.Stat. § 573.02, subd. 1. This statute provides in pertinent part:

When death is caused by the wrongful act or omission of any person or corporation, the trustee appointed as provided in subdivision 3 may maintain an action therefor if the decedent might have maintained an action, had the decedent lived, for an injury caused by the wrongful act or omission.... Any other action under this section may be commenced within three years after the date of death provided that the action must be commenced within six years after the act or omission ...

Id.

Defendants argue that the phrase "act or omission" in the above statute refers not to the time of Abigael Henry's accident, but rather to the date of the alleged wrongful act and omission of the defendants. Thus, they would argue the six-year period began to run immediately after the garage door and garage door opener were installed in July of 1974 and expired in 1980, eight years before Abigael Henry's accident and subsequent death.

The court cannot agree with defendants' interpretation of the statute. It is clear from the legislative history of Minn.Stat. § 573.02 that the phrase "act or omission" refers to the date of the accident which causes death. The Minnesota Supreme Court in Bonhiver v. Fugelso, 355 N.W.2d 138 (Minn.1984) has also indicated in dicta that this would be its interpretation of the statute. In Bonhiver, the plaintiff's wife fell down some stairs and severely injured herself. Id. at 139. She sued alleging negligence in the design and construction of the steps and failure to warn of the sudden change in elevation. Id. She later died, and her husband instituted a wrongful death action. Id. Although decided on other grounds, the Minnesota Supreme Court noted that without any further reading of Minn.Stat. § 573.02, the requirements seemed to indicate that the plaintiff's wrongful death suit should have been brought within three years from the date his wife fell down the ramp. Id. at 141. While the supreme court was looking at a prior version of Minn.Stat. § 573.02, that version also contained the "act or omission" language.

From the facts of Bonhiver, it is clear the supreme court read the wrongful death statute to be referring to the date of the accident rather than the date of the original negligent act of the defendant. This is true because when addressing the question of when the statute would run, the court referred to the date of the woman's accident at the ramp and made no reference to the date on which the defendant designed or built the ramp.

Therefore, the court finds that the six-year statute of limitations and Minn.Stat. § 573.02 begins to run on the date of the accident that causes death. In the case at hand, the accident occurred in 1988. Consequently, as the six-year statute of limitations has not run, the court will not grant defendants' summary judgment motion on this ground.

B. Improvement to Real Property Statute

Defendants next contend that plaintiff's action is time-barred by Minn.Stat. § 541.051, which mandates that all actions arising out of a defect in an improvement to real property must be commenced within ten years after substantial completion of construction. Specifically, the statute states in relevant part:

Subd. 1. Except where fraud is involved, no action by any person in contract, tort, or otherwise to recover damages for any injury to property, real or personal, or for bodily injury or wrongful death, arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property, ... shall be brought against any person performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, materials, or observation of construction or construction of the improvement to real property or against the owner of the real property more than two years after discovery ... thereof, nor, in any event shall such a cause of action accrue more than ten years after substantial completion of the construction.

Id.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has defined an improvement to real property as:

A permanent addition to or betterment to real property that enhances its capital value and that involves the expenditure of labor or money and is designed to make the property more useful or valuable as distinguished from ordinary repairs.

Pacific Indemnity v. Thompson-Yaeger, 260 N.W.2d 548, 554 (Minn.1977).

Defendants argue that under this definition, the garage door, torsion springs, and garage door opener were improvements to real property and thus plaintiff's claims are time-barred. Plaintiff counters that while the garage door was an improvement to real property, the garage door opener was not an improvement to real property under the Pacific Indemnity definition. Alternatively, plaintiff maintains that recent amendments to Minn.Stat. § 541.051 and the creation of Minn.Stat. § 325F.83, subd. 8 demonstrate that the legislature never intended that garage door openers be considered improvements to real property under Minn.Stat. § 541.051. In addition, plaintiff contends that although the garage door is an improvement to real property, the operation of the ten-year statute of repose should be tolled as to Raynor because of fraud on Raynor's part. Finally, plaintiff argues that the improvement to real property s...