Schaeffer v. Michigan-Ohio Navigation Company, 18901.
| Decision Date | 24 September 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 18901.,18901. |
| Citation | 416 F.2d 217 |
| Parties | Heinrich H. SCHAEFFER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MICHIGAN-OHIO NAVIGATION COMPANY, a Corporation; Westinghouse Electric Corporation, a Corporation; Security Fire Door Co., a Corporation; and Elevator Supplies Company, Inc., a Corporation, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Albert A. Miller, Detroit, Mich. (Garan, Lucow & Miller, Detroit, Mich., on
the brief) for appellant Westinghouse Electric Corp.
John A. Hamilton, Detroit, Mich. (Foster, Meadows & Ballard, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for Sand Products Corporation.
Leroy G. Vandeveer, Detroit, Mich. (Vandeveer, Doelle, Garzia, Tonkin & Kerr, Leroy G. Vandeveer, Detroit, Mich., on the brief), for Elevator Supplies Co., Inc.
Konrad D. Kohl, Detroit, Mich. (Victor G. Hanson, Detroit, Mich., Arthur Roth, Miami, Fla., on the brief), for Security Fire Door Co.
Davidson, Gotshall, Kelly, Halsey & Kohl, by Konrad D. Kohl, Detroit, Mich., Arthur Roth, Miami, Fla., for Heinrich H. Schaeffer.
Before EDWARDS, CELEBREZZE* and COMBS, Circuit Judges.
The accident which gives rise to this litigation took place on the Great Lakes cruise ship Aquarama which was en route from Cleveland to Detroit.
The first major question presented by this appeal is whether a products liability suit is recognized in admiralty law. If so, the second concerns whether the proofs justify the $200,000 judgment entered in favor of plaintiff-appellee, Heinrich H. Schaeffer, against defendant-appellant Westinghouse Electric Corporation after jury trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Other questions challenge the District Judge's dismissal of actions against two of the subcontractors of Westinghouse and his dismissal non obstante veredicto of Westinghouse's counter suit against Sand Products Corporation, the owner of the Aquarama.
Schaeffer was a handyman-mechanic on the Aquarama on September 1, 1962, when he suffered a severe injury which occasioned the amputation of a leg when the counterweight to the dumbwaiter on the Aquarama fell on him when he was engaged in seeking to remove the burned out electric motor which operated the dumbwaiter. Schaeffer sued every party arguably involved, including his employer, Michigan-Ohio Navigation Company (the charterer and operator of the Aquarama), Westinghouse (the general contractor on the installation and maintenance of the dumbwaiter), and Security Fire Door Company and Elevator Supplies Company (subcontractors on the installation of the dumbwaiter). Westinghouse in turn sued all defendants named above and Sand Products Corporation, owner of the Aquarama, for indemnity of any amount that might be found in damages in favor of Schaeffer against Westinghouse. Prior to trial Michigan-Ohio settled its Jones Act suit (46 U.S. C. § 688 et seq. (1964)) with Schaeffer for $78,241.23 and proceeded in this action to sue Westinghouse for indemnity in that sum.
The products liability claims of Schaeffer against Westinghouse asserted that Westinghouse as the contractor for construction and maintenance of the dumbwaiter was guilty of design negligence, negligence in failing to warn of a hidden danger, and breach of an implied warranty of safety. Schaeffer's design negligence claim was based primarily upon the fact that the access door for servicing of the dumbwaiter was placed on the side of the dumbwaiter shaft so that any employee who worked on the dumbwaiter motor would necessarily have a portion of his body underneath the counterweight. In the event the cables for any reason were disengaged from the pulleys, the counterweight could (and did) fall like a guillotine. It is also asserted that failure to have the cables secured or to have counterweights housed or "buffered" against such possibility was likewise design negligence.
As to failure to warn, Westinghouse had a maintenance contract on this elevator so that they serviced it during the seven years of operation of the Aquarama and they knew of the burned out motor and that the Aquarama staff would be expected during a voyage to take the motor out for repairs. It is asserted that failure to warn at that point of the hazards of this operation concerning the possible fall of the counterweight when the motor was unbolted represented negligence likewise.
The claimed breach of warranty was a reiteration of the claims just stated in the context of Westinghouse's asserted implied warranty that the product they had supplied and maintained was safe to operate.
After counsel for Schaeffer completed his opening statement, Security Fire Door and Elevator Supplies moved for directed verdicts claiming that there were no facts stated by Schaeffer under which they could be held liable. The District Judge granted the motion after a colloquy in which Schaeffer's counsel and counsel for Westinghouse both appeared to agree that directed verdicts as to these two were proper. This concession is now disputed by present counsel for Westinghouse.
The case then proceeded through trial and the District Judge submitted the issues to the jury. The special questions and the jury answers to them and the Form of Verdict as filled out by the jury follow:
"THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL QUESTIONS APPLY ONLY TO THE ACTION BROUGHT BY HEINRICH SCHAEFFER AGAINST WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION
(Filed July 1, 1966)
"1. Did Westinghouse breach an implied warranty of fitness, if any, or was Westinghouse guilty of negligence, if any, that caused or contributed to Heinrich Schaeffer's injuries?
Answer: Yes v No -----------
(If your answer to Question No. 1 is "No", then no further questions need be answered).
(Filed July 1, 1966)
A. We find for the plaintiff Henry Schaeffer against Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the sum of $200,000.
or
A. We find for the cross-plaintiff Michigan-Ohio Navigation Company against Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the sum of $0.
or
A. We find for the third party plaintiff Westinghouse Electric Corporation against the third party defendant Sand Products Corporation in the sum of $78,241.23.
or
B. We find no cause for action against the third party defendant Sand Products Corporation. Yes v"
Subsequently, the District Judge directed a verdict for Sand Products, entered a judgment of no cause for action as to Michigan-Ohio's suit against Westinghouse and again submitted to the jury the question of Schaeffer's damages against Westinghouse. The jury thereupon returned a verdict of $200,000 damages in favor of Schaeffer against Westinghouse upon which the District Judge entered judgment. Westinghouse appealed.
It is, of course, settled law that Jones Act recovery by an injured seaman does not preclude his right to an action against a third party whom he alleges to have caused his injury. Ryan Stevedoring Co., Inc. v. Pan-Atlantic S.S. Corp., 350 U.S. 124, 76 S.Ct. 232, 100 L.Ed. 133 (1955); Seas Shipping Co., Inc. v. Sieracki, 328 U.S. 85, 66 S.Ct. 872, 90 L.Ed. 1099 (1946); Crawford v. Pope & Talbot, Inc., 206 F.2d 784 (3d Cir. 1953).
We believe that a products liability claim will lie in admiralty court. Sieracki v. Seas Shipping Co., 149 F.2d 98 (3d Cir. 1945), aff'd, 328 U.S. 85, 66 S.Ct. 872, 90 L.Ed. 1099 (1946); Noel v. United Aircraft Corp., 342 F.2d 232 (3d Cir. 1965); Sanderlin v. Old Dominion Stevedoring Corp., 385 F.2d 79 (4th Cir. 1967). See also McCune, "Maritime Products Liability," 18 Hastings L.J. 831 (1967).
The historical difficulties inherent in deciding this question are many. They are illustrated by the United States Supreme Court majority and the dissenting opinions in Seas Shipping Co., Inc. v. Sieracki, supra, and in the Second Circuit opinion in Igneri v. CIE. de Transports Oceaniques, 323 F.2d 257 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 376 U.S. 949, 84 S.Ct. 965, 11 L.Ed.2d 969 (1963). Neither of these cases, of course, dealt directly with products liability. But the history recited seems to indicate that admiralty law (albeit slowly) draws upon and incorporates the law prevailing on land when there is...
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