Miles v. Raymond Corp.
| Decision Date | 18 March 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 5:08CV00585.,5:08CV00585. |
| Citation | 612 F.Supp.2d 913 |
| Parties | Jamie MILES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RAYMOND CORPORATION, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Nicole L. Lorenzatti, Terrence D. Garmey, Smith, Elliott, Smith & Garmey, Portland, ME, Jude B. Streb, Day Ketterer, Canton, OH, for Plaintiffs.
Harry T. Quick, Matthew L. Snyder, Brzytwa, Quick & McCrystal, Cleveland, OH, Patrick W. Schmidt, Raymond D. Jamieson, Quarles & Brady, Milwaukee, WI, for Raymond Corporation.
John W. Burnett, Todd A. Gray, Mannion & Gray, Cleveland, OH, for Andersen & Associates, Inc.
This matter is before the Court on separate motions for partial judgment on the pleadings filed by defendants Andersen & Associates, Inc. ("Andersen") and Raymond Corporation ("Raymond") (collectively, "Defendants"). (Doc. Nos. 42 & 45, respectively). Plaintiffs Jamie Miles (individually and as personal representative of the estate of Karla Grinder) and Karen Schonauer (individually and as legal guardian of minor child K.G.,) (collectively, "Miles" or "Plaintiffs") responded to the motions (Doc. Nos. 46 & 48), and Defendants filed replies (Doc. Nos. 47 & 51). The motions are fully briefed and ripe for decision.
On October 4, 2006, Karla Grinder died when the stand-up forklift she was operating traveled underneath a horizontal rack, causing the rack to intrude into her operating space, striking her back and pushing her body up onto the operator's panel, effectively crushing her between the rack and the operator's panel. (Compl. ¶ 10.) Grinder died of compressive asphyxia. (Id. ¶ 11.) The forklift she was operating was manufactured by Raymond and had been sold to Grinder's employer, Wooster Brush, by Defendants in October 2003. (Id. ¶¶ 9, 15.)
Plaintiffs bring this wrongful death action against Raymond and Andersen based upon their alleged involvement in the manufacturing and marketing of the forklift at issue. Plaintiffs filed their initial complaint on March 6, 2008, and amended it on October 6, 2008. In the amended complaint, they assert the following claims: design defect (against Raymond (Count I) and against Andersen (Count VII));2 inadequate pre-sale warning or instruction (against Raymond (Count II) and against Andersen (Count VIII)); inadequate post-sale warning or instruction (against Raymond (Count III) and against Andersen (Count IX)); failure to conform to representation (against Raymond (Count IV) and against Andersen (Count VI)); direct statutory liability in negligence (against Andersen only (Count V)); common law negligence (against Raymond (Count X) and against Andersen (Count XI)); breach of warranties (against both Raymond and Andersen (Count XII)); wrongful death (against both Raymond and Andersen (Count XIII)); survival (against both Raymond and Andersen (Count XIV)); and punitive damages (against both Raymond and Andersen (Count XV)).
In their motions for judgment on the pleadings, both Defendants seek dismissal of the common law negligence and breach of warranties claims, contending that the Ohio General Assembly abrogated all such claims when it enacted the current version of the Ohio Products Liability Act (the "OPLA"), Ohio Revised Code § 2307.71 et seq., which became effective April 7, 2005, before Plaintiffs' claims accrued. Additionally, Raymond asks the Court to dismiss the inadequate pre- and post-sale warning claims against it on grounds that those claims, as pleaded by Plaintiffs, fail as a matter of law. Plaintiffs respond by arguing that their common law negligence and breach of warranty claims are not "product liability claims" within the meaning of the statute and, therefore, were not abrogated. Plaintiffs also maintain that the inadequate warning claims asserted against Raymond are cognizable under the OPLA and are legally sufficient based upon the facts set forth in the complaint.
Under Rule 12(c), a party may move for judgment on the pleadings any time after the pleadings are closed but early enough not to delay trial. The standard of review for a motion for judgment on the pleadings is the same as for a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for relief under Rule 12(b)(6). E.E.O.C. v. J.H. Routh Packing Co., 246 F.3d 850, 851 (6th Cir. 2001) (citing Grindstaff v. Green, 133 F.3d 416, 421 (6th Cir.1998)). "For purposes of a motion for judgment on the pleadings, all well-pleaded material allegations of the pleadings of the opposing party must be taken as true, and the motion may be granted only if the moving party is nevertheless clearly entitled to judgment." JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Winget, 510 F.3d 577, 581 (6th Cir.2007) (quoting S. Ohio Bank v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 479 F.2d 478, 480 (6th Cir.1973)). The district court, however, "need not accept as true legal conclusions or unwarranted factual inferences." Mixon v. Ohio, 193 F.3d 389, 400 (6th Cir.1999) (citing Morgan v. Church's Fried Chicken, 829 F.2d 10, 12 (6th Cir.1987)). "The motion is granted when no material issue of fact exists and the party making the motion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Paskvan v. City of Cleveland Civil Serv. Comm'n, 946 F.2d 1233, 1235 (6th Cir.1991) (citation omitted).
This is a diversity case, so the Court applies the choice of law rules of the forum state. Himmel v. Ford Motor Co., 342 F.3d 593, 598 (6th Cir.2003). In a personal injury action, Ohio applies the balancing test set forth in the Restatement (Second) Conflict of Laws § 146, which presumes that the location of the injury controls the applicable law unless another state has a more significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties. See Muncie Power Prods., Inc. v. United Techs. Auto., Inc., 328 F.3d 870, 873-74 (6th Cir. 2003) (citations omitted). The injury giving rise to Plaintiffs' claims occurred in Ohio, so Ohio law appropriately applies to Plaintiffs' state law claims. Product liability claims in Ohio are governed by the OPLA. Longs ex rel. Estate of Buchanan v. Wyeth, 536 F.Supp.2d 843, 849 (N.D.Ohio 2008).
Defendants contend that Plaintiffs' common law claims are preempted by the recently-enacted version of the OPLA. The Ohio Supreme Court has not yet addressed this issue. Therefore, the court must attempt to predict what the Ohio Supreme Court would do if confronted with the question. Himmel v. Ford Motor Co., 342 F.3d 593, 598 (6th Cir.2003) (citing Stalbosky v. Belew, 205 F.3d 890, 893-94 (6th Cir.2000)).3
By its terms, the OPLA applies to "recovery of compensatory damages based on a product liability claim," as well as "[a]ny recovery of punitive or exemplary damages in connection with a product liability claim [...]." Ohio Rev.Code § 2307.72(A) & (B); see also Delahunt v. Cytodyne Techs., 241 F.Supp.2d 827, 842 (S.D.Ohio 2003). The OPLA defines "product liability claim" as follows:
(13) "Product liability claim" means a claim or cause of action that is asserted in a civil action pursuant to sections 2307.71 to 2307.80 of the Revised Code and that seeks to recover compensatory damages from a manufacturer or supplier for death, physical injury to person, emotional distress, or physical damage to property other than the product in question, that allegedly arose from any of the following:
(a) The design, formulation, production, construction, creation, assembly, rebuilding, testing, or marketing of that product;
(b) Any warning or instruction, or lack of warning or instruction, associated with that product;
(c) Any failure of that product to conform to any relevant representation or warranty.
Ohio Rev.Code § 2307.71(A)(13).
In a relatively recent amendment to the statute, the Ohio legislature added the following language: "Sections 2307.71 to 2307.80 are intended to abrogate all common law product liability causes of action." Ohio Rev.Code § 2307.71(B).
In this case, it is undisputed that Plaintiffs' claims accrued after the amendments to the OPLA went into effect. Accordingly, if the common law negligence and breach of warranty claims asserted by Plaintiffs are covered by the statutory language abrogating common law product liability causes of action, those claims are extinguished. See Stratford v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., No. 2:07-CV-639, 2008 WL 2491965, at *4 (S.D.Ohio June 17, 2008) ()
As it pertains to Andersen, Plaintiffs premise their common law negligence claim on allegations that Andersen "breached its duty to exercise reasonable care as a supplier in connection with its role in the marketing, design, formulation, manufacture, sale, installation[,] servicing[,] and/or maintenance" of the forklift it sold to Wooster Brush and on which Grinder died. (Compl. ¶ 89.) Plaintiffs contend that Andersen knew of the "horizontal intrusion" hazard presented by operation of the forklift in areas of horizontal shelving like that at the Wooster Brush facility. (Id.) Plaintiffs further assert that Andersen failed to warn Wooster Brush and its foreseeable users of the hazard, and could have, but did not, guard against the hazard by installing certain additional equipment on the forklift. (Id. ¶¶ 90-91.) Plaintiffs style their common law negligence claims against Andersen as "including but not limited to Negligent Representation and Negligent Failure to Warn Pre and Post-Sale." Plaintiffs also assert statutory claims under the OPLA against Andersen for negligence (Count V), design defect and negligent design (Count VII), inadequate pre-sale warning (Count VIII), and inadequate post-sale warning (Count IX) based upon the same factual allegations.
Plaintiffs' common law negligence claim against Raymond is largely the same as the claim...
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