Maddy v. Honeywell Int'l Inc.
| Decision Date | 06 August 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 108698,No. 109066,108698,109066 |
| Citation | 2020 Ohio 3969 |
| Parties | BARBARA MADDY, EXECUTOR FOR THE ESTATE OF JAMES MADDY, DECEASED, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Appearances:
Paul W. Flowers Co., L.P.A., Paul W. Flowers and Louis E. Grube, for appellant.
Willman & Silvaggio, L.L.P. and Steven G. Blackmer and McDermott Will & Emery L.L.P. and Michael W. Weaver, for appellee.
{¶ 1} In this consolidated appeal, plaintiff-appellant Barbara Maddy, Executor for the Estate of James Maddy, deceased, ("appellant") appeals from (1) the trial court's decision granting summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Honeywell International Inc. ("Honeywell") on appellant's asbestos-related tort claims and (2) the trial court's denial of her motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Civ.R. 60(B). Appellant contends that the trial court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of Honeywell because genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether decedent James Maddy's ("Maddy") exposure to Bendix brake products was a substantial factor in causing his terminal mesothelioma. Appellant also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Civ.R. 60(B)(1), (3) and (5) because it "mistakenly disregarded" material evidence, relied on misrepresentations and "inequitably viewed" the evidence in a light more favorable to Honeywell when granting Honeywell summary judgment. Finding that genuine issues of material exist as to whether Maddy was exposed to asbestos from Bendix brake products and, if so, whether that exposure was a substantial factor in causing Maddy's mesothelioma and death, we reverse the trial court's granting of summary judgment in favor of Honeywell and remand the case for further proceedings.
{¶ 2} On June 13, 2017, appellant filed a wrongful death/survivorship action in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas against Honeywell (individually and as successor-in-interest to Allied Chemical, Bendix Corporation("Bendix") and Allied Signal Corporation),1 Parker Hannifin Corporation (individually and as successor in interest to EIS Automotive Corporation & Sinclair Collins)2 and various John Doe defendants. Maddy asserted claims of negligence, product defect under Ohio's product liability statute, "willful and wanton conduct," loss of consortium and wrongful death against Honeywell, alleging that Maddy had contracted and died from mesothelioma as a result of his occupational exposure to asbestos-containing products that were manufactured, sold, distributed or installed by Honeywell in Ohio. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Maddy had been employed by Bekin's Moving and Storage in Georgia from the 1960s through 1977, by Wyandot Popcorn from approximately 1977-1980, by The Flxible Corporation from approximately 1980-1996 and by Motor Coach Industries from approximately 1996-2009. Maddy was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma on April 17, 2014. He died on May 26, 2014 at age 70. Maddy's death certificate identified his cause of death as respiratory failure due to mesothelioma.
{¶ 3} In her discovery responses, appellant claimed that Maddy had been exposed to asbestos-containing Bendix brake products when working as a supervisor at Flxible Bus Corporation ("Flxible") in Loudonville, Ohio from 1980 through 1996. A former coworker, Thomas Burkhart, was the sole witness identifiedto testify regarding Maddy's alleged exposure to these asbestos-containing products. As it relates to the claims in this case, Burkhart was deposed three times. Burkhart was first deposed on July 21, 2016 in Maddy v. A.W. Chesterton Co., Ill. 3d Cir. Madison No. 14-L-1266, which Maddy's estate had filed against Honeywell and more than 90 other defendants in Madison County, Illinois and later dismissed (Burkhart's "first deposition"). Burkhart was deposed twice in this action — on May 24, 2018 (Burkhart's "second deposition") and March 13, 2019 (Burkhart's "third deposition").
{¶ 4} Flxible manufactured intercity buses that it sold to transit authorities nationwide. It went out of business in or around 1996. Flxible's buses used an air brake system that was originally designed by Bendix Westinghouse. According to Burkhart, in the 1980s, Rockwell axles with Bendix brakes were original equipment on Flxible's buses.
{¶ 5} Burkhart began working at Flxible's Loudonville, Ohio facility in October 1969 as a skirt paneler. He started working in the aftermarket parts and service department (also sometimes referred to as the "warehouse department") in approximately 1978. Maddy was hired in 1980. During the time they worked together at the Loudonville facility, Maddy was one of three supervisors in the aftermarket parts and service department and Burkhart was a group leader in the department. Burkhart "took [his] directions" from Maddy and the other supervisors.
{¶ 6} Burkhart worked with Maddy at the Loudonville facility from 1980 until 1995 or 1996 (when Burkhart was laid off) — excluding a period from 1981-August 1983 when Burkhart managed a warehouse at another Flxible facility in Ontario, Ohio. Even during the time he worked at the Ontario facility, however, Burkhart "still answered to [Maddy]" and, at times, attended meetings at the Loudonville facility.
{¶ 7} The aftermarket parts and service department comprised a quarter of the facility. The other three-quarters of the facility consisted of "a stamping plant, machine shop, paint shop, weld shop, [and] shearing." According to Burkhart, the aftermarket parts and service department "looked a lot like a Lowe's or a Home Depot warehouse" with racks clear to the ceiling and packing stations up front in the corner, i.e., six or seven tables at which parts were packed up and shipped out to other company warehouses or transit companies. The aftermarket parts and service department filled all of Plant 8 and over half of Plant 6 — two warehouses that were adjacent to one another — and together were approximately "four football fields" in size. Plant 8 was "maybe three-quarters of a football field, wide and long." Maddy's office was in Plant 8.
{¶ 8} Burkhart testified that Maddy usually worked from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and that, until 1985 or 1986, Burkhart usually worked third shift (from 12 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.) with opportunities "to work a couple additional hours at the end" if there was a need for overtime. Burkhart stated that Maddy's responsibilities included directing the workforce, meeting with vendors on issues, handling anyaftermarket parts and service issues and employee discipline. He stated that Maddy "[r]eported to a warehouse superintendent" and "answered to production and anything else that was to be done by the supervisor there." Burkhart described Maddy as a "workaholic" and a "hands-on supervisor who basically ran the whole operations" and spent "very little" time in his office. He stated that Maddy "operated on the second, third, first shift," was "the one who made sure things were running smoothly and everything was correct" and that he "dealt with" Maddy "as much on the third shift when [he] was a group leader * * * as [he] did when [he] was on first."
{¶ 9} Burkhart identified four different settings or situations in which Maddy was potentially exposed to Bendix brake products while working at Flxible: (1) the sale and shipment of replacement brake linings and preassembled brakes; (2) the riveting, drilling, chiseling and/or grinding of old brake lining material and the riveting of new brake linings as part of Flxible's warranty return/core exchange program; (3) the chiseling and grinding of old brake lining material and adhesion of new brake lining material as part of Flxible's bonded brake program and (4) adjustments made to new brake lining material on finished bonded brakes.
{¶ 10} Burkhart testified that Flxible maintained an inventory of aftermarket, replacement brake products stored in Plant 6 that it would sell to various transit authorities. Flxible's inventory included both "loose" brake liningsand preassembled brakes that consisted of a metal shoe to which a brake lining was already attached. Burkhart testified that, prior to 1990, all of the "loose" brake linings Flxible sold out of its Loudonville facility were manufactured and supplied by Bendix and that the preassembled brakes were supplied by Rockwell.
{¶ 11} The "loose" brake linings Flxible sold were predrilled and designed to fit a particular brake shoe. Flxible received the brake linings from Bendix in "generic" brown or white cardboard boxes, which would fit "anywhere from six to a dozen" brake linings. The boxes had a Bendix label stating "what the size was and so forth" and "a location it might have c[o]me from." The linings were generally shipped out to customers, as is, in the boxes in which they had arrived from Bendix. Only "very seldom[ly]" would Burkhart or others in his group have a need to "open up [the] boxes" and "look at them." Burkhart stated that it was his job to keep an inventory of the brake linings that came into the facility and that Bendix brake linings were present from "day 1" when he began working in the warehouse.
{¶ 12} Burkhart testified that the preassembled brakes supplied by Rockwell came one shoe per box. He testified that although, "at times," he or another employee would open up the boxes to "check and verify" that Rockwell had put the right brake shoe in the right box, generally, they did not remove the Rockwell preassembled brakes from their packaging.
{¶ 13} Burkhart testified that, in the 1980s, the...
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