Moorman v. American Safety Equipment
| Decision Date | 29 January 1992 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 89-2554,89-2565,s. 89-2554 |
| Citation | 594 So.2d 795 |
| Parties | Thomas Duane MOORMAN, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. AMERICAN SAFETY EQUIPMENT, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, and John Coyman and Robert Coyman, Appellees. 594 So.2d 795, 17 Fla. L. Week. D345, Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P. 13,111 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Edna L. Caruso of Edna L. Caruso, P.A., West Palm Beach; William deForest Thompson of Thompson & O'Brien, P.A., Fort Lauderdale; and David E. French of David & French, Boca Raton, for appellant/cross-appellee.
R. Fred Lewis of Magill & Lewis, P.A., Miami, for appellee/cross-appellant American Safety Equipment.
David L. Wills of Vernis & Bowling, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellees John Coyman and Robert Coyman.
A seatbelt left its manufacturer without operational or safety defect but with the potential, which the manufacturer knew about, to develop such a defect through ordinary use. It was then incorporated by Ford into one of its trucks. After a passenger in the truck suffered catastrophic injuries, which the seatbelt could have avoided, he sued the manufacturer under the separate theories of strict liability and negligent failure to warn. The jury found that no defect existed when the product left the manufacturer but also found that a later defect had developed for which the manufacturer was negligent in failing to warn. That verdict, it is contended, was facially incompatible with one defendant's view of the legal theories on which the case had been tried, but he sat silently by until the jury had been discharged and left the courtroom.
The question raising the most heat in this appeal is whether the passenger's entire case against the manufacturer depended on the product being defective when it left its maker's hands. In our view, however, if the kind of jury verdict given here is so obviously at odds with the substantive requirements of the law, we think that the affected party must object before the jury is discharged or face a waiver of that issue on appeal. Hence we reverse the trial court's order granting a new trial.
Thomas Moorman and John Coyman decided to cut short their afternoon of billiards and beer and return to their job site to determine which man was the better carpenter. Coyman offered to drive. As Moorman settled into Coyman's Ford truck, he attempted to engage the seatbelt but it would not work. He tried several times without success to pull the metal tongue over his lap and into the locking buckle. Coyman, who had already driven out onto the highway, suddenly lost control of the vehicle, and the truck rolled over onto the passenger side, coming to rest on its roof. Moorman was thrown partially from the truck and suffered a broken neck as a result of the accident, which left him a total quadriplegic.
Moorman sued Coyman as the owner/driver, Ford Motor Company as the manufacturer of the truck, Luke Bolton Ford as the seller, and American Safety Equipment Corporation [ASE] as the manufacturer of the seatbelt. Coyman conceded liability before trial, and Moorman settled with Ford and the seller before the verdict. The jury found all parties negligent, apportioning their negligence as follows: 51% to Coyman, 20% each to Moorman and to ASE, and 9% to the seller. They also found total damages of $7,000,000. Based upon the apportionment of plaintiff's own negligence and a set-off of $1,305,000 from the settlements, the trial court entered judgment against ASE for $4,295,000. It later granted ASE's post trial motion for a new trial, however, on the grounds that the verdict was inconsistent.
Moorman appeals the grant of the new trial. ASE appeals the denial of its motion for judgment n.o.v., the grant of a new trial on liability only without resubmitting damages, and the admission of certain medical evidence. We find it necessary to discuss only the grant of the new trial. Our discussion addresses both the procedural and the substantive aspects of the issue, for both aspects require a reversal.
The passenger's claims against ASE were set forth in separate counts. One count contained a standard strict liability claim, in which Moorman alleged that the seatbelt was defective when it left ASE's plant. The separate negligence count alleged that ASE owed a duty to eliminate any unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm and to distribute the seatbelt "in such fashion as to allow the general public * * * easy accessibility to utilize, adjust and connect the safety seat belt and/or restraint assembly system." It went on to allege that ASE had breached its duty by, among other things, failing to warn users that the seatbelt was unsafe to use in a manner in which it was intended. The negligence count conspicuously lacked an allegation that the seatbelt was defective when it left ASE's plant, but it did allege that the product was either inherently or "immanently" [sic] dangerous, an allegation that we take to mean that it was or could become so.
The seat belt was manufactured by ASE according to Ford's design specifications. The design called for double stitching across the belt to act as a gravity stop to keep the tongue from falling out of the passenger's reach. When positioned below the stitching, the tongue could not reach the locking buckle at all. This, of course, rendered the seatbelt useless. After the accident, investigators found Coyman's passenger seatbelt tongue below the stitching. According to testimony at trial, the belt had been in that position since Coyman purchased the truck five months before the accident.
The stitching was supposed to be designed to enable the tongue to move back and forth to reach the locking buckle. Ford did not indicate in its design specifications how to manufacture stitching thick enough to serve as a gravity stop, yet thin enough to allow the tongue to pass over it with ease. Whether ASE succeeded in accomplishing this effect was the subject of considerable dispute at trial.
An ASE employee testified that belts would occasionally be discovered with the tongue below the stitching before being shipped to Ford. ASE employees also testified that passengers could move the tongue across the stitching by wiggling or manipulating it with both hands, but probably not by trying to force it. Other witnesses testified that anywhere from 15 to 48 pounds of force was required to pull the tongue over the stitching. ASE admittedly ran tests to measure the force needed to reposition the tongue after it slipped below the stitching but could not find any documentation of the test results.
Moorman's experts testified that, when the tongue was below the stitching, it created a safety problem which rendered the belt not "reasonably available for use" as required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Experts for ASE, on the other hand, characterized the problem as a user inconvenience. Moorman's called it a manufacturing defect, and the basis of his strict liability count against ASE.
The trial judge instructed the jury to consider each of Moorman's claims separately, saying:
In your deliberations you are to consider several distinct claims. [Moorman] has one claim against [the seller] alleging negligence. He also has two claims against [ASE], one alleging negligence and the other alleging strict liability in tort. There is also a claim by [Moorman] against [Coyman] alleging negligence.
Although these claims have been tried together, each is separate from the other and each party is entitled to have you consider separately each claim as it affects that party. Therefore, in your deliberations, you should consider the evidence as it relates to each claim separately as you would had each claim been tried before you separately.
As to Moorman's negligence claim against ASE, he instructed:
The issues for your determination on the negligence claim of [Moorman] against [ASE] are whether [ASE] was negligent in manufacturing the seatbelt or in failing to warn of any defect in the seatbelt of which it was or should have been aware, and if so, whether such negligence was a legal cause of loss, injury or damage sustained by [Moorman]. [e.s.]
* * * * * *
A defendant has a duty to warn when that defendant knows or should know of any hazards associated with the use of the product which are not obvious, reasonably apparent, or not as well known to the user as to the manufacturer. [e.s.]
The jury was instructed on the strict liability claim thus:
The issues on the strict liability claim of [Moorman] against [ASE] are whether the seatbelt supplied by [ASE] was defective when it left the possession of [ASE] and if so, whether such defect was a legal cause of loss, injury or damage sustained by [Moorman]. [e.s.]
The term "defect" thus appears in both the negligence and strict liability instructions. Only the strict liability instruction, however, requires that the defect be present "when it left the possession" of ASE. We note, also, that the following general definition given to the jury in the instructions is not limited in its terms to a manufacturer's plant defect:
A product is defective, under the usage as that term is used in my charges and in the verdict form, if it is in a condition unreasonably dangerous to the user, and the product is expected to and does reach the user without substantial change affecting that condition.
It is apparent that the jury discerned this distinction because during their deliberations the jury sent out a note. The court thereupon brought the jury back and the following took place:
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