RED HILL HOSIERY MILL v. MagneTek, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. COA99-597.,COA99-597.
• Citation: 530 S.E.2d 321,138 NC App. 70
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: RED HILL HOSIERY MILL, INC., Plaintiff, v. MAGNETEK, INC., and Lithonia Lighting, Inc., a Division of National Services Industries, Inc., Defendants.

530 S.E.2d 321

138 NC App. 70

RED HILL HOSIERY MILL, INC., Plaintiff, v. MAGNETEK, INC., and Lithonia Lighting, Inc., a Division of National Services Industries, Inc., Defendants.

No. COA99-597.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

May 16, 2000.

Pinto Coates Kyre & Brown, PLLC, by Richard L. Pinto and David L. Brown, Greensboro, for plaintiff-appellant.

Tuggle Duggins & Meschan, P.A., by J. Reed Johnston, Jr., Greensboro; and Yopp & Sweeney, PLC, by Kathryn A. Stephenson, Nashville, TN, for defendant-appellee MagneTek, Inc.

Sigmon, Clark, Mackie, Hutton & Hanvey, PA, by J. Scott Hanvey, Hickory; and Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC, by John H. Peavy, Jr., Atlanta, GA, for defendant-appellee Lithonia Lighting, Inc.

GREENE, Judge.

Red Hill Hosiery Mill, Inc. (Plaintiff) appeals from an order granting summary judgment for MagneTek, Inc. (MagneTek) and Lithonia Lighting, Inc., a division of National Services Industries, Inc. (Lithonia) (collectively, Defendants) entered 12 January 1999, and an order denying Plaintiff's motions for reconsideration, to amend the judgment, and for relief from the judgment entered 29 January 1999.

Plaintiff is the owner of a building located in Hickory, North Carolina, which was damaged by fire in March of 1996. Plaintiff alleges in its complaint the fire "began as a result of the malfunctioning of the ballast within a fluorescent lighting fixture" located in the building. It is further alleged the ballast and fluorescent light fixture, purchased in 1991, were "designed, manufactured and/or distributed by [D]efendants" who are, pursuant to "N.C.G.S. § 99B-1," responsible for the damage. Plaintiff asserts claims of negligence and breach of implied warranty of merchantability against both Defendants.¹ As for the negligence claims, it is alleged Defendants negligently produced, designed, manufactured, assembled, and inspected the ballast and fluorescent lighting fixture. As for the breach of implied warranty claim, it is alleged Defendants warranted the ballast and fluorescent lighting fixture to be of "merchantable quality," "reasonably fit for the purposes for which [they were] intended," and that they were "not reasonably fit for the purposes for which [they were] intended, but [were] instead defective."

The record reveals that during the early morning hours of 13 March 1996, a fire destroyed Plaintiff's greige manufacturing mill (the mill) located in Hickory, North Carolina. Hickory Fire Marshall Tommy Richard Bradshaw (Bradshaw), two agents of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the Fire Inspector of the City of Hickory (collectively, the investigators) investigated the fire to determine its cause and origin. By interpreting the fire patterns, the investigators determined the area of origin of the fire was one of the fluorescent light fixtures in the mill. This particular fluorescent light fixture sustained more damage than the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures in the mill.

The cover of the fluorescent light fixture was off,² there was oxidation on the fixture, indicative of exposure to high temperatures, and it displayed a discoloration on top of the fixture that indicated a specific area of heating, which was consistent with the location of the ballast installed on the underside of the fixture. Bradshaw testified if these heat patterns were caused by an external heat source as opposed to an internal heat source within the fixture, he would expect to see similar discoloration patterns on the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures. The investigators examined the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures and did not observe any similar discoloration patterns. The investigators were unable to find any faults within the fixture or its power cord, excluding the ballast.

The investigators concluded the fire was caused by the ignition of lint following the overheating of the ballast³ within the fluorescent light fixture. The investigators excluded all other possible sources of the fire, including the mill's electrical and mechanical systems.

After the investigators made their determination, Bradshaw released the fire scene to Plaintiff in order to begin its clean-up efforts. Bradshaw was satisfied he had established a cause and origin of the fire and the relevant evidence to that effect had been preserved.

Plaintiff's expert in electrical engineering, physics, and fire investigation, James Samuel McKnight, Ph.D. (McKnight), reviewed the fire scene approximately one week after the fire. By that time, extensive clean-up efforts were underway, and McKnight was able to view only the physical layout of the mill and some fire damage.

Bradshaw had removed the suspect fluorescent light fixture from the mill and later provided it to McKnight. Bradshaw did not, however, preserve the adjacent fluorescent light fixtures he had used to compare to the suspect light fixture, as they were discarded after their removal from the mill. McKnight's review and conclusion as to the cause of the fire was that the ballast malfunctioned and overheated. McKnight based his conclusions on the facts that the suspect fluorescent light fixture displayed a specific area of heat intensity and over one-half of the potting compound within the ballast had seeped out. McKnight believes the ballast had improperly overheated to such an extent that the potting compound located within the ballast liquified and leaked out of the ballast. McKnight considered other possible sources for the fire but concluded no other cause was reasonable. Although McKnight opined the ballast overheated, he could not identify any specific defect within the ballast.

MagneTek's expert witness David Walter Powell (Powell) performed a disassembly of the suspect ballast to determine if any failures occurred to the ballast prior to the fire. According to Powell, the tear-down demonstrated there was no damage to any interior electrical components of the ballast. Further, the potting compound showed no extensive heat damage. The thermal protector inside the suspect ballast was tested and found to function at a temperature that was not a hazardous temperature for the combustion of lint. Powell testified "[t]he purpose of the thermal protector is for any reason the ballast should reach a preset temperature, it is to disconnect power to the ballast until it cools down."

McKnight observed the tear-down and testified he did not find any evidence of arcing on the exterior or interior of the suspect ballast, and he had no opinion as to whether the thermal protector was operational at the time of the fire. McKnight, however, did opine "[t]he failure may have happened in such a way that the temperature increased in part of the ballast rapidly enough that it ignited the lint on top of the fixture before the thermal protector operated."

Powell and the fire investigator for Magne-Tek, Donald Robert Dowling, opined the pattern on top of the suspect fluorescent light fixture's housing was not indicative of internal overheating, rather it was a "fire-pattern" coming from external heat. Powell did not know what caused the fire at the mill, but he stated the suspect ballast was not the culprit.

The suspect ballast was independently manufactured by MagneTek and purchased by Lithonia for incorporation into fluorescent light fixtures Lithonia assembled. The suspect ballast was tested by MagneTek and represented to Lithonia as meeting the Underwriters Laboratories' standards.

Powell testified the suspect ballast "is ... designed to operate ... in just about any conventional [fluorescent light] fixture." Powell also testified the suspect fluorescent light fixture "is a straight commercial strip" and the ballast was appropriate for incorporation into the fluorescent light fixture.

Russell Vern Rouse (Rouse), a representative for Lithonia, testified the suspect fluorescent light fixture was appropriate for operation in a facility such as the mill, and it was a reasonable and expected use of both the ballast and the fluorescent light fixture to operate in a hosiery mill. Rouse also testified the suspect fluorescent light fixture can be suspended from above by chains or directly mounted to a surface.

Tony Moretz Whitener (Whitener), a representative for Plaintiff, testified the mill's fluorescent light fixtures were installed by an electrical contractor, were suspended from the ceiling by chains approximately eight feet off of the floor, and were powered by a ground power cord plug, so that the fixtures could be easily replaced. Whitener testified if a fluorescent light fixture stopped working they would replace the fluorescent light bulbs, and if the fixture was still inoperable, Plaintiff would not attempt to replace the ballast but instead would replace the entire fluorescent light fixture. Whitener testified that to his knowledge none of the fluorescent light fixtures in the area of the mill where the fire started had been replaced, because they were still relatively new. Whitener also stated Plaintiff's employees cleaned lint and dust off of the top of the mill's fluorescent light fixtures every third day, and all of the fluorescent light fixtures in the mill were operational at the time of the fire.

The issues are whether there is: (I) a genuine issue of material fact that the fluorescent light fixture (ballast) was defective; and (II) a genuine issue of material fact that Defendants were negligent in the manufacture, design, assembly, and/or inspection of the fluorescent light fixture (ballast).

PRODUCTS LIABILITY

Plaintiff's claims against Defendants are within the scope of Chapter 99B of our General Statutes and thus constitute a products liability action. N.C.G.S. § 99B-1(3) (1999) (action for property damage caused by manufacturing or assembling of a product); see Crews v. W.A. Brown & Son, 106 N.C.App. 324, 328, 416 S.E.2d 924, 928 (1992)

. A products liability claim "normally contemplates injury or damage caused by a defective product,"⁴ 1...