Shuck v. Cnh America, LLC

• Decision Date: 21 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-4180.,06-4180.
• Parties: Bradley SHUCK; Gregory Shuck, Plaintiffs, C-Line Farms, Inc.; Nucklay Farms, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CNH AMERICA, LLC, A Delaware Corporation, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

498 F.3d 868

Bradley SHUCK; Gregory Shuck, Plaintiffs C-Line Farms, Inc.; Nucklay Farms, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CNH AMERICA, LLC, A Delaware Corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 06-4180.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: June 13, 2007.

Filed: August 21, 2007.

Bryan S. Hatch, argued, Andrew W. Muller and Victor C. Padios, on the brief, Omaha, NE, for appellant.

Tanya J. Janwewicz, argued, Daniel M. Placzek, on the brief, Grand Island, NE, for appellee.

Before MELLOY, SMITH, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

A jury found combine manufacturer CNH America, LLC ("CNH"), liable under theories of breach of express warranty and strict liability after a fire in a combine's engine compartment caused extensive damage to the combine and to corn that was onboard the combine. CNH moved before trial to exclude the plaintiffs' fire causation expert and mechanical expert. CNH also moved before trial for summary judgment and after trial for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The district court¹ denied summary judgment and admitted the plaintiffs' experts but later agreed with the defendant that one of the plaintiffs' experts testified as to matters that exceeded the scope of his pre-trial report. The district court did not strike the challenged testimony but advised the jury that the expert testified to matters that exceeded the scope of his written opinion. Finally, the district court granted judgment as a matter of law as to claims for negligence and breach of implied warranty, but submitted to the jury claims of breach of warranty and strict liability. CNH now appeals, and we affirm.

I. Background

A. The Combine and the Fire

The combine at issue in this case is a 2003 Case International Harvester model 2388 Axial-Flow Combine manufactured by CNH ("the Combine"). Material to the present discussion, the Combine has a six-cylinder diesel engine and holds twenty quarts of oil. In each cylinder, a piston connected to a rod travels up and down throughout the sequential stages of a combustion cycle. Through each piston, combustion generates working motion that is transferred through a rod and wrist pin to a crankshaft that, ultimately, provides power for the Combine's various moving parts. We will refer to the area between each piston and the walls of its accompanying cylinder as the bore clearance. This area requires lubrication to minimize friction and heat that may cause damage to the piston and cylinder and that may cause the piston to seize within the cylinder.

In September 2004, the plaintiffs purchased the used Combine from Fairbanks International, a farm equipment dealer in Hastings, Nebraska. Fairbanks International had sold the Combine new to David Burr in 2003. The Combine was covered by a two-year/2000 hour written warranty that expired on September 14, 2005 ("the Warranty") and transferred to the plaintiffs with the Combine. The Warranty covered parts and labor for defects caused by material or workmanship if discovered and reported during the term of the Warranty and if the repair was performed at an authorized CNH location.

When the plaintiffs purchased the Combine it had been used for approximately 355 hours. Plaintiff Greg Shuck ("Greg") changed the oil at that time. He changed the oil a second time, on October 9, 2004, when the Combine had about 480 hours of use. The recommended period of time between oil changes on the Combine is 125-200 hours of use, depending on the oil, so this oil change was timely.

On October 10, after harvesting corn with the Combine for approximately two hours, Greg measured the oil using the dipstick, observed that it was "a slight amount . . . underneath full," and added a quart of oil. Greg also greased various points on the Combine, and in the process, he accessed the engine compartment and observed no indication of an oil leak. Greg continued to harvest with the Combine throughout October 10.

On the morning of October 11, Greg again checked the oil, observed that the oil "was up to the mark," and resumed harvesting. By mid-day on October 11, Greg had been harvesting with the Combine for approximately thirteen to fifteen hours since the October 9 oil change. At that time, Greg turned off the Combine for about thirty to forty-five minutes to tend to other matters. He then restarted the Combine, let it warm up for a couple of minutes, and resumed harvesting. Before he had traveled a quarter of a mile, he heard a loud squealing noise. He checked the monitors and saw no warning or indicator lights or buzzers suggesting that anything was wrong. He then looked in his mirror and saw flames. Greg was able to raise the grain head, and he attempted to back the Combine out of the field to avoid burning the standing corn. The engine quickly lost power, however, and he was only able to back out about fifteen feet. He used an onboard fire extinguisher to put out flames on standing corn near the Combine. The fire department eventually arrived and extinguished the onboard fire, which had damaged the Combine and burned approximately 100 bushels of corn held within the Combine.

B. The Experts and the Trial

Prior to trial, the plaintiffs identified Ken Ward as a fire causation expert and Steven Mikesell as a mechanical expert. CNH identified John Mertens as a fire causation and origin expert. Ward inspected the Combine in the week following the fire, examined the location in the field where the fire had occurred, and later attended a dismantling of the engine, where he was again able to inspect the Combine. Mikesell inspected the combine and engine when the engine was dismantled. Mertens inspected the Combine near the time of the fire and again at the time the engine was dismantled.

Ward concluded that the fire started in the engine compartment and was caused when the number six piston disengaged from the main crankshaft causing a connecting rod to flail about and punch holes through the forward and rearward sides of the engine block and through the oil pan. Ward concluded that these holes permitted the uncontrolled blending of oxygen and combustibles in the presence of multiple ignition sources, thus causing the fire. Ward did not offer an opinion as to the cause of the piston failure, but he ruled out the possibility that the fire was caused by oil starvation. Ward observed that only the piston and cylinder in the number six position displayed damage, whereas oil starvation would have caused friction, overheating, and damage in multiple cylinders. Ward observed that he saw no evidence of a massive oil leak, as one would expect if enough of the Combine's twenty quarts of oil had drained away to cause overheating related to general oil starvation. Greg Shuck's statements and his description of his actions and his observation of the Combine around the time of the fire were consistent with Ward's opinion that the Combine had not suffered oil starvation. Greg operated the combine for thirteen to fifteen hours after he changed the oil and replaced the filter. He observed no oil spray or leak in the engine compartment on the two days following the oil change, and he observed no indication by way of warning lights, buzzers, or high-oil-pressure signals suggesting a problem while operating the Combine. Further, no witness claimed to observe a large quantity of oil on the ground.

Mikesell, like Ward, concluded that the engine did not display evidence of oil starvation. Mikesell stated that piston failure led to the fire, and he offered three explanations of how the piston may have failed. First, he suggested that the bore clearance at the number six position may have been insufficient, leading to friction, overheating, and failure at only this position. Second, he suggested that a wrist pin connecting the number six piston to the crankshaft may have failed. Third, and in Mikesell's opinion, most likely, there may have been a defect in the fuel delivery system. Like Ward, Mikesell explained in detail his observations and his reasons for rejecting oil starvation as a cause of the fire.

Mertens concluded that Greg Shuck improperly installed the oil filter at the time of the October 9 oil change such that enough of the twenty quarts of oil leaked from the engine to cause the engine to run dry. As a result, friction caused overheating and user error could be deemed the cause of the fire. Mertens testified that he observed no indication that oil had sprayed from the holes that were punched in the engine block, as had been stated by the plaintiffs' experts. He also testified that the oil filter had burned and that the burn patterns, in his opinion, suggested that the fire was centered around the oil filter.

The experts' testimony was largely consistent with and commensurate in scope with their respective pre-trial written opinions. One exception was Mikesell, who testified as to the three suggest defects listed above (insufficient bore clearance, wrist-pin clearance, or fuel delivery problems) but did not address these three possible defects in his pre-trial written report. Mikesell did address the issue of a fuel delivery system defect months prior to trial in a deposition. The district court advised the jurors of the discrepancy between Mikesell's pretrial opinions and his opinion at trial, but did not strike the additional opinion testimony.

The competing experts' opinions presented two contradictory and competing theories of how the number six piston failed and how the fire started. Under CNH's theory, user error in the installation of an oil filter caused the number six piston to run dry, overheat, and seize, leading to engine failure and the ignition of leaked oil. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, presented testimony from Greg Shuck, who explained in detail his use and maintenance of the Combine and his observations of the engine compartment and warning indicators, none of which suggested an oil leak. Also, plaintiffs' experts...