Pritchett v. Cottrell, Inc.

• Decision Date: 23 January 2008
• Docket Number: No. 06-3665.,No. 06-3477.,No. 06-3459.,06-3459.,06-3477.,06-3665.
• Citation: 512 F.3d 1057
• Parties: John PRITCHETT, Roxie Pritchett, Appellants, v. COTTRELL, INC.; Jack Cooper Transport Company, Inc., Appellees. Christian Scott, Cathy Scott, Appellants, v. Cottrell, Inc.; Jack. Cooper Transport. Company, Inc., Appellees. Gaylan Fix, Carman Fix, Appellants, v. Cottrell, Inc.; Jack Cooper Transport Co., Inc., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

512 F.3d 1057

John PRITCHETT, Roxie Pritchett, Appellants, v. COTTRELL, INC.; Jack Cooper Transport Company, Inc., Appellees.

Christian Scott, Cathy Scott, Appellants, v. Cottrell, Inc.; Jack. Cooper Transport. Company, Inc., Appellees.

Gaylan Fix, Carman Fix, Appellants, v. Cottrell, Inc.; Jack Cooper Transport Co., Inc., Appellees.

No. 06-3459.

No. 06-3477.

No. 06-3665.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: May 16, 2007.

Filed: January 23, 2008.

Thomas G. Maag, argued, Brian M. Wender, Edwardsville, IL, Charles Armbruster, Wood River, IL, R. Denise and Stephen Bough, Kansis City, MO, on the brief, for appellants.

Brian C. Walsh, argued, Thomas C. Walsh, on the brief, St. Louis, MO, for appellee.

Before MURPHY, HANSEN, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

John and Roxie Pritchett, Christian and Cathy Scott, and Gaylan and Carman Fix brought three separate products-liability actions in state court against Cottrell, Inc. (Cottrell), Jack Cooper Transport Co., Inc. (JCT), and others, for injuries that the men sustained while operating a ratchet system designed by Cottrell.¹ Cottrell removed the cases to federal court, and the district court denied motions to remand. In each case, the district court dismissed JCT for fraudulent joinder and lack of subject matter jurisdiction² and granted summary judgment to Cottrell, concluding that the Appellants had failed to generate a genuine dispute of fact over whether their injuries were caused by a specific design defect. Pritchett and Scott appeal the denial of their motions to remand, asserting that the removal was improperly perfected. Pritchett, Scott, and Fix all appeal the adverse grants of summary judgment. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

I.

In this summary judgment context, we view the evidence and recite the facts in the light most favorable to the Appellants, the nonmoving parties in these cases. Ruminer v. Gen. Motors Corp., 483 F.3d 561, 562 (8th Cir.2007).

Pritchett, Scott, and Fix were each employed cby JCT as drivers of specially designed ear-hauling rigs, used generally to haul automobiles from the car manufacturer to the dealership. In separate incidents, all three men were injured while operating a ratchet system that was attached to the trailer of their rig and used in securing vehicles to the trailer for transport. The ratchet system in each case was designed by Cottrell and required a great deal of physical force to operate. In general, each Appellant testified that while he was manually operating the ratchet system, either to tie-down or to untie a vehicle on his trailer, he experienced a sudden release of pressure or tension in the chain, which caused him to slip, fall, and incur injuries.

Some understanding of how the ratchet system works is necessary for our discussion. According to the affidavit of Elwood Feldman, Vice Chairman of Cottrell, most of Cottrell's trailers are equipped with a chain and ratchet system that is used to tie down the vehicles being hauled. The ratchet system includes a chain and ratchet assembly for each corner of every vehicle hauled on the rig. The driver secures a vehicle to the trailer by attaching, a hook in a slot on the undercarriage of the vehicle. The ratchet chain is attached to the hook and sometimes passed around an idler bar to achieve a proper chain angle. With a grab hook, the driver takes up the slack of excess chain. The driver then inserts a tie-down bar into two parallel holes on the ratchet assembly and tightens the chain by pulling on the tie-down bar. This turns the shaft or spool of the device, and the ratchet's pawl clicks as it engages the teeth of the spool as the chain tightens, preventing the release of the tension generated. The chain wraps around the ratchet shaft no more than two times during normal use and should not overlap on itself. The driver tightens the chain until it compresses the loaded vehicle's suspension to a desired level, and he then repeats the process on each corner of that vehicle.

The process of untying a vehicle is merely the reverse of the tie-down process (unless the rig is equipped with the newer quick-release mechanism). The driver applies additional pressure by pulling on the tie-down bar so that he can lift the dog or pawl out of the ratchet's teeth and allow the chain to unwind little by little until completely released. On models equipped with the newer quick-release ratchet, the quick-release mechanism eliminates the need to apply excessive physical force to untie the vehicle,³ but it does not alter the tie-down process.

Scott was injured in Missouri on January 14, 2003, when untying a pickup truck from the trailer of a 1991 Cottrell carhauling rig, which was not equipped with a quick-release mechanism. He testified that while loosening the ratchet by exerting pressure on the tie-down bar to release the dog, he thought the chain rolled on the ratchet causing a sudden release of pressure that jerked and "popped" his shoulder and wrist. (Scott's App. at 211.) He stated that he had experienced this type of occurrence on prior occasions.

Fix was injured on October 27, 2003, in Kansas while operating a 1995 car-hauling rig that was equipped with a quick-release mechanism, but his injury occurred during the tie-down process of tightening the chain. He asserted that his footing was slippery due to leaking hydraulic fluid and the chain rolled and "popped," causing him to fall and injure his knee. (Cottrell's App. at 244.) Fix stated he had complained about the way the ratchet system "would just bounce you," explaining that "it's like pulling on 100 pounds and all of a sudden somebody gives you about six inches, and then it just really whacks you." (Id. at 233 (also stating that the "the ratchet type setup" was causing injuries).) Fix brought another claim alleging injuries from an unrelated ladder incident that occurred on October 5, 2004, in Kearney, Nebraska. The ladder, which had been mounted on his trailer rig, broke while he was climbing it, causing him to fall and sustain injuries.

Pritchett was injured on April 26, 2004, in Kansas while operating a 1995 Cottrell car-hauling rig equipped with a quick-release ratchet system, but like Fix, he was injured while tying down a vehicle to the top deck of the rig, not while using the quick-release mechanism to untie the vehicle. Pritchett stated that while tightening the ratchet on his rig, "a sudden force" threw back the chain and tie-down bar, causing him to fall from the trailer and injure his arm and shoulder. (Id. at 82.) He stated he had experienced this type of occurrence on more than ten occasions.

Pritchett, Scott, and Fix (and, as noted, their respective wives) brought separate products-liability actions against Cottrell and others in the circuit court of Jackson County, Missouri. On claims of strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty against Cottrell, they sought compensation for the injuries incurred as a result of alleged defects in the design of Cottrell's car-hauling rigs. Cottrell filed a Notice of Removal of Civil Action in federal court with the consent of every defendant except JCT. The written consents were attached to the Notice of Removal as an exhibit. Cottrell asserted that JCT's consent was not necessary as there was no valid claim against JCT, and it had been fraudulently joined to defeat diversity jurisdiction.

Pritchett, Scott, and Fix moved to remand their cases to state court, asserting a lack of unanimous consent to removal. They challenged Cottrell's assertion that JCT's consent was not necessary because it was fraudulently joined, and Pritchett and Scott asserted that the consent of defendant General Motors Corporation (GM) was not valid because it was not signed by an attorney licensed to practice in Missouri. The district court denied the motions to remand, dismissed JCT for lack of jurisdiction, and ultimately granted GM a voluntary dismissal.

Following discovery, Cottrell moved for summary judgment. To substantiate their design defect claims, Pritchett, Scott, and Fix presented the expert opinion of Linda Weseman regarding the ratchet design. She is an engineer who has studied the car-hauling industry, the rigs, and their designs for the purpose of applying engineering principles to issues involving work-related injuries experienced by drivers while tying down and untying vehicles on the rigs. She has secured vehicles on rigs, inspected rigs, met with drivers, and conducted tests measuring the force levels that are applied by drivers when securing vehicles to the car-hauling rigs. Citing various studies, reports, and her own observations, she stated that the ratchet and chain tie-down and untying system requires significant manual force to operate, that Cottrell knew of the significant danger of drivers being injured while tying and untying cargo, and that the technology for alternative devices requiring less manual force has been available for decades and would have prevented the injuries in these cases. In particular, she referred to a study that determined that "the ratchet used by Delavan, which is substantially similar to the Cottrell ratchet tie down system, was improperly designed, allowing sudden releases and chain overloads." (Cottrell's Add. at A-3; A-11; A-20-21.)

In each case, Ms. Weseman stated her opinion that there are feasible, safer, alternative designs, such as tire restraints or hydraulically powered tie-down systems, that would have required little or no manual exertion and would have protected the drivers from injury in the event of a sudden release of force in either the tie-down or the untying process. She also stated that a "wheel strap tie down system has been used successfully for many years in Europe and by competitors in this country." (Id. at A-5.) She offered her, opinion that the ratchet tie-down system design is unreasonably dangerous and defective. Ms. Weseman also...