Moody v. FMC Corp.
| Decision Date | 09 July 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-7753,92-7753 |
| Citation | 995 F.2d 63 |
| Parties | Corliss MOODY, Phillip Moody, et al., Plaintiffs. Corliss Moody and Phillip Moody, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. FMC CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Greg B. Enos, Burwell & Enos, Texas City, TX, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Frank G. Jones, William J. Boyce, Fulbright & Jaworski, Houston, TX, for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Before JOLLY, BARKSDALE, and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.
In this products liability case, the plaintiffs attempted to amend their pleadings on the third day of the trial. Noting the delay and prejudice to the defendants, the magistrate judge refused to allow the amendment and refused to submit the question on the new issue to the jury. After the jury found for the defendants, the plaintiffs brought this appeal challenging the magistrate judge's rulings on the amendment and the jury question. Because the magistrate judge did not abuse her discretion, we affirm.
In 1988, Corliss Moody worked as an apprentice boilermaker for Joy Manufacturing. In October of 1988, Moody was installing ductwork between two buildings at the Houston Power & Lighting plant in Fort Bend County, Texas. The ductwork was approximately five stories above the ground. Joy Manufacturing used a linkbelt HC-218A crane with a personnel basket attached to transport Moody to and from the area where she was working. FMC Corporation ("FMC") designed and manufactured the linkbelt HC-218A crane.
On October 31, 1988, Moody stepped into the personnel basket so that the crane operator could lower her to the ground. The crane operator pulled the wrong lever and sent the personnel basket into a free fall. After letting the basket fall thirty feet, the crane operator stopped it, suddenly slamming Moody to the bottom of the basket. Moody injured her foot, ankle, and back in the accident.
On April 19, 1990, Moody and her husband sued FMC alleging that FMC's crane was defective because the control levers were so close to each other that they were easily confused. The Moodys' complaint asserted two causes of action: design defect and negligence. The parties tried the case to a jury between August 31 and September 3, 1992. At trial, the Moodys tried to introduce a new issue concerning the adequacy of the warnings that FMC provided. FMC first brought up the warnings in its opening statement and both parties introduced evidence relating to the warnings. FMC, however, contended that the evidence was directly relevant to its affirmative defenses and that it did not consent to try a new issue. Based on FMC's objections, the district court denied the Moodys' motion to amend their pleadings and also refused to submit their proposed jury interrogatory regarding the adequacy of the warnings.
After deliberating for approximately fifteen minutes, the jury rejected both of the Moody's theories of liability and returned a verdict in favor of FMC. On September 25, 1992, the magistrate judge denied the Moodys' motion for a new trial and entered a take nothing judgment in favor of FMC. The Moodys appeal.
We begin with the Moodys' contention that the magistrate judge erred when she denied their motion to amend their pleadings pursuant to Rule 15(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Whether a party should be allowed to amend his pleadings is a decision that we leave to the sound discretion of the district court, and we review only for an abuse of that discretion. Union Planters Nat. Leasing v. Woods, 687 F.2d 117, 121 (5th Cir.1982); Addington v. Farmer's Elevator Mut. Ins. Co., 650 F.2d 663 (5th Cir.1981).
Rule 15(b) provides:
When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, they shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings. Such amendment of the pleadings as may be necessary to cause them to conform to the evidence and to raise these issues may be made upon motion of any party at any time, even after judgment; but failure so to amend does not affect the result of the trial of these issues. If evidence is objected to at the trial on the ground that it is not within the issues made by the pleadings, the court may allow the pleadings to be amended and shall do so freely when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the objecting party fails to satisfy the court that the admission of such evidence would prejudice the party in maintaining the party's action or defense on the merits. The court may grant a continuance to enable the objecting party to meet such evidence.
The Moodys argue that FMC impliedly consented to try the adequacy of the warnings when FMC introduced its own evidence about the warnings and failed to object to plaintiffs' evidence relating to the warnings. We disagree. The evidence on the warnings was relevant to issues already in the case. A party does not consent to try new issues unless he could reasonably be expected to recognize that a new issue entered the case. Domar Ocean Transport v. Independent Refining Co., 783 F.2d 1185, 1188 (5th Cir.1986). Nor does a party consent to try a new issue by introducing evidence or failing to object to evidence when the evidence is relevant to pleaded issues in the case. Jimenez v. Tuna Vessel Granada, 652 F.2d 415, 422 (5th Cir.1981); International Harvester Credit Corp. v. East Coast Truck and R.V. Sales, Inc., 547 F.2d 888, 890 (5th Cir.1977).
The evidence on warnings was relevant to FMC's defenses. In its pleadings and at trial, FMC contended that Joy Manufacturing and its personnel were solely responsible for Moody's injuries. FMC introduced the evidence on the warnings to show that Joy Manufacturing and its personnel, by disregarding the warnings, were negligent and that their negligence caused the accident. When the Moodys tried to interject an issue about the adequacy of...
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