Hoffman v. Paper Converting Machine Co.

• Decision Date: 03 March 2010
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 08-3012.
• Citation: 694 F. Supp.2d 359
• Parties: Jeff J. HOFFMAN, Plaintiff, v. PAPER CONVERTING MACHINE CO. and Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

694 F. Supp.2d 359

Jeff J. HOFFMAN, Plaintiff, v. PAPER CONVERTING MACHINE CO. and Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 08-3012.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

March 3, 2010.

Anthony J. Voci, Jr., Robert Ross, Shanon S. Levin, Ross Feller Casey, LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for Plaintiff.

Bradley D. Remick, William Lance Banton, Jr., Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, Michael F. Schleigh, Deasey Mahoney Valentini, North, Ltd., Philadelphia, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

TUCKER, District Judge.

Presently before this Court: are Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 31), Plaintiff's Response (Doc. 51), Defendants' Reply and Supplemental Reply thereto (Doc. 68 and Doc. 72), and Plaintiffs Sur-Reply (Doc. 79). For the reasons stated below, the Court will grant in part and deny in part Defendants' Motion.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Jeff J. Hoffman ("Plaintiff) brings this action to recover damages for an injury incurred when the fingers of his right hand were drawn into the unguarded in-running nip point between the anilox roll and the plate roll of an eight-deck flexographic printing press designed and manufactured by Defendant Paper Converting Machine Co. Plaintiff Jeff J. Hoffman was an employee of Superpac, Inc. ("Superpac"), the owner of the machine at the time of the incident. See Compl. ¶¶ 8, 9, 13. Paper Converting Machine Co. is in the business of designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling printing press machines including the machine at issue in this suit. Compl. ¶¶ 6, 13. Defendant Barry-Wehmiller Co., Inc. ("Barry-Wehmiller") acquired Paper Converting Machine Co. in October 2005 (hereinafter, Defendants collectively "PCMC"). Answer ¶ 4. The machine in question was a Model 7223, Serial Number C1-11P printing press which is an eight-color flexographic press manufactured by PCMC and delivered to Superpac, sometime between 1987 and 1991. Dep. of Andrew Weir at 30.

While operating the press on November 27, 2007, Plaintiff's right hand became entrapped and entangled in the press at an unguarded in-running nip point between the anilox roll and the plate roll. Pl.s Dep. at 18-19, 23, 24; Compl. ¶ 9. Although Plaintiff has no recollection of the events leading up to the incident or how his hand was drawn into the rolls, a post-accident investigation by Superpac revealed that Plaintiff was attempting to clean a high mark¹ on the press while it was still running by sliding his plastic employee time card into the rollers of the machine.² Dep. of Andrew Weir at 23-24; Pl.'s Dep. at 65 (noting he has no memory of the incident). Once Plaintiffs' hand was drawn into the machine, he could not reach any "turn-off switch and had to be extracted by a coworker. Compl. ¶¶ 10, 15.

As a result of the entrapment, Plaintiff suffered amputation of four fingers on his right hand as well as other injuries to his hones, tissue, and other parts of his body, together with emotional injuries. Id. ¶ 11. Immediately following the accident, Plaintiff was taken to Abington Memorial Hospital and transferred by helicopter to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital ("Jefferson"). Plaintiff underwent multiple surgeries along with physical therapy, and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Plaintiff is currently employed by Superpac in an accommodated capacity as a rewinder with limited responsibilities and a decrease in pay. Pl.'s Dep. at 75-76; Dep. of William Seitzinger at 40, 42.

Plaintiff alleges that the printing press at issue is defective as designed because; (1) it did not contain a guard that would have prevented Plaintiffs hand from becoming entrapped in the machine; Compl. ¶ 14; and (2) Defendants failed to properly and adequately warn users of the dangerous condition of the press, Compl. ¶ 18.

In response, Defendants argue the press had all the safety features technologically feasible at the time the machine was sold to Superpac. Defendants allege that a guard was tested on the printing presses but that those tests showed the available guard caused damage to the machine. Moreover, Defendants contend that warnings were provided to Superpac and that Plaintiff was made aware of the content of those warnings.

On December 16, 2009. Defendants filed a motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate where the moving party establishes that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that it is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(e). See Levy v. Sterling Holding Co., LLC, 544 F.3d 493, 501 (3d Cir.2008), A factual dispute between the parties will not defeat a motion for summary judgment unless it is both genuine and material. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Dee v. Borough of Dunmore, 549 F.3d 225, 229 (3d Cir.2008), A factual dispute is genuine if a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-movant, and it is material if, under the substantive law, it would affect the outcome of the suit. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Fakete v. Aetna, Inc., 308 F.3d 335, 337 (3d Cir.2002).

The moving party must show that if the evidentiary material of record were reduced to admissible evidence in court, it would be insufficient to permit the non-moving party to carry its burden of proof. See Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), Thus, the moving party bears the initial responsibility of identifying the portions of the record "which it believes demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." El v. SEPTA, 479 F.3d 232, 237 (3d Cir.2007). Yet, even if the moving party fulfills this requirement, "the non-moving party can defeat summary judgment if it nonetheless produces or points to evidence in the record that creates a genuine issue of material fact." Id. at 238 (citing Josey v. John R. Hollingsworth Corp., 996 F.2d 632, 637 (3d Cir.1993)).

Once the moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56, "its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). Under Rule 56(e), the opposing party must set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial and may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of its pleadings. See Marten v. Godwin, 499 F.3d 290, 295 (3d Cir.2007). At the summary judgment stage the court's function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, hut rather to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Jiminez v. All American Rathskeller, Inc., 503 F.3d 247, 253 (3d Cir.2007). In doing so, the court must construe the facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 600-01, 106 S.Ct. 1348; Horsehead Indus., Inc. v. Paramount Communications, Inc., 258 F.3d 132 (3d Cir.2001). The court must award summary judgment on all claims unless the non-moving party shows through affidavits or admissible evidence that an issue of material fact remains. See, e.g., Love v. Rancocas Hosp., 270 F.Supp.2d 576, 579 (D.N.J.2003); Koch Materials Co. v. Shore Slurry Seal, Inc., 205 F.Supp.2d 324, 330 (D.N.J.2002).

DISCUSSION

Prior to addressing the specific issues raised by the parties in this matter, the Court must first address whether the relevant standard for products liability law is expressed in the Restatement (Second) of Torts or the Restatement (Third) of Torts. The confusion arises from the decision in Berrier v. Simplicity Mfg., 563 F.3d 38 (3d Cir.2009). In Berrier, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit predicted that Pennsylvania would adopt the Restatement (Third) of Torts, see id. at 54. Yet, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case on which the Third Circuit based its prediction was dismissed as improvidently granted, see Bugosh v. I.U. North Am., Inc., 596 Pa. 265, 942 A.2d 897 (2008), dismissed as improvidently granted 601 Pa. 277, 971 A.2d 1228 (2009), meaning that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court never reached the merits of the case. Plaintiff now urges that the Berrier decision is not binding precedent, and that the Court must therefore apply the Restatement (Second) of Torts, while Defendants argue that the Restatement (Third) of Torts applies because a district court is bound by Third Circuit precedent on state law issues unless a subsequent, decision by the highest state court diverges from Third Circuit precedent. Ostroff v. Alterra Healthcare Corp., 433 F.Supp.2d 538, 547 (E.D.Pa.2006).

The parties emphasize the significance of this issue because the Restatement (Second) and Restatement (Third) set forth two different standards for evaluating whether a design defect exists in a products liability case. The Restatement (Second) Products Liability § 402A provides that a product is defective in design where it leaves the supplier's control lacking any element necessary to make it safe for its intended use or possessing any feature that renders it unsafe for the intended use. In contrast, the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, § 2(b) states in pertinent part that a product is defective in design when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by the adoption of a reasonable alternative design by the seller or other distributor, or a predecessor in the commercial chain of distribution, and the omission of the alternative design renders the product not reasonably safe,

Essentially, while one standard focuses on an intended user making an intended use of the product, the other focuses on the foreseeable risks of harm and whether an alternative design...