Swenson v. Emerson Elec. Co.

• Citation: 374 N.W.2d 690
• Decision Date: 20 September 1985
• Docket Number: No. C8-84-188,C8-84-188
• Court: Supreme Court of Minnesota (US)
• Parties: Janet SWENSON, individually and as trustee for the heirs at law and next of kin of Edward C. Swenson, Respondent, v. The EMERSON ELECTRIC COMPANY, Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant, The A.O. SMITH CORPORATION, Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff, Appellant, v. LAKE REGION COOPERATIVE, Third Party Defendant, Respondent.

Page 690

374 N.W.2d 690

Janet SWENSON, individually and as trustee for the heirs at

law and next of kin of Edward C. Swenson, Respondent, v. The EMERSON ELECTRIC COMPANY, Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff, Petitioner, Appellant, The A.O. SMITH CORPORATION, Defendant and Third Party Plaintiff, Appellant, v. LAKE REGION COOPERATIVE, Third Party Defendant, Respondent.

No. C8-84-188.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Sept. 20, 1985.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Plaintiff's claim against defendants based upon the federal Consumer Product Safety Act is not barred by the statute of limitations because, under Minn.R.Civ.P. 15.03, it relates back to plaintiff's timely claims of negligence, negligent failure to warn of a defect, and strict product liability.

2. The federal Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2051 et seq. (1982), provides a private cause of action for violation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's substantial product hazard reporting regulations.

Douglas J. Muirhead, Mpls., Robert M. Sussman, John F. Seymour, Washington, D.C. for Emerson.

Thomas L. Athens, Fergus Falls, for A.O. Smith.

Kennedy R. Nervig, Charles R. Kennedy, Wadena, for Lake Region Cooperative.

John C. Lervick, Alexandria, Stanley E. Karon, Jennifer E. Peterson, St. Paul, for respondent.

Mark S. Anderson, St. Paul, for amicus curiae Minn. Ass'n. of Commerce & Industry.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

AMDAHL, Chief Justice.

We must decide whether the federal Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2051 et seq. (1982), provides a private cause of action for violation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's substantial product hazard reporting regulations. Plaintiff Janet Swenson sought to amend her complaint to include a claim under the Act. Defendants Emerson Electric Company and A.O. Smith Corporation opposed amendment of the complaint, contending that plaintiff has no cause of action under the Consumer Product Safety Act, and that the claim under the Act was barred by the statute of limitations. The trial court granted plaintiff leave to amend her complaint, but certified the issues raised by the amendment to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Swenson v. The Emerson Electric Co., 356 N.W.2d 313 (Minn.App.1984). We granted review and now affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.

In September of 1977, Edward Swenson acquired a Mark I Glasscote water heater designed, manufactured, and distributed by defendant A.O. Smith Corporation. The water heater was equipped with a gas control valve, or thermostat, manufactured by defendant Emerson Electric Company. Swenson placed the water heater in his residence. On September 10, 1979, Swenson was attempting to relight the pilot light on the water heater when an explosion and flash fire occurred. The explosion and fire severely injured Swenson. He died on September 21, 1979.

Plaintiff commenced this action on April 10, 1981, alleging that a defect in the water heater and thermostat permitted LP gas to escape from the gas control valve. This gas, ignited when Edward Swenson tried to light the pilot light, caused the explosion and fire which resulted in his death. Plaintiff Janet Swenson, decedent's wife, sued defendants A.O. Smith Corporation and Emerson Electric Company for damages based upon negligence in design and manufacture of the water heater, negligent failure to warn of the defect, breach of the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, and strict liability. Plaintiff also sought punitive damages, alleging that defendants acted with willful indifference to the rights and safety of others.

Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on March 17, 1982, with the consent of the defendants. On June 14, 1983, plaintiff moved for leave to file a second amended complaint. In the second amended complaint, plaintiff expanded upon her claim for punitive damages, clarified her strict liability claim, and sought to add to the complaint a claim for damages under the federal Consumer Product Safety Act. Defendants Emerson and Smith opposed the motion for leave to file the second amended complaint on the grounds that plaintiff has no cause of action under the Consumer Product Safety Act, and that the claim under the Act was barred by the statute of limitations.

The trial court granted plaintiff leave to file the second amended complaint on November 22, 1983. Defendants thereafter filed a motion to dismiss the punitive damages claim and the claim based upon the Consumer Product Safety Act, renewing their contentions that the plaintiff did not have a cause of action under the Act and that the statute of limitations barred assertion of the claim. In the alternative, defendants asked the trial court to certify the issues raised to the Court of Appeals. On January 31, 1984, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss in all respects, but certified the issues raised by defendants to the Court of Appeals as important and doubtful.

Three questions were certified to the Court of Appeals:

1. Does Section 23 of the Consumer Products Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2072, provide a private right of action for violation of the non-binding interpretive regulation issued by the Consumer Products Safety Commission at 16 CFR Part 1115?

2. Does the Section 23 claim asserted in Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint arise out of the "same transaction or occurrence" that is the subject of Plaintiff's original claims, within the meaning of Rule 15.03 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, so that Plaintiff's untimely filing of the CPSA claim is made timely by application of the Minnesota Relation-Back Doctrine?

3. Does Subdivision 4 of Minnesota Statutes § 573.02, as amended by Chapter 347 of Laws of Minnesota for 1983, have retroactive application to Wrongful Death lawsuits which do not result from an intentional act constituting murder, so that Plaintiff should be permitted to seek punitive damages in this case arising out of an occurrence in 1979?

The Court of Appeals ruled that the alleged violation of the substantial product hazard reporting regulations arose out of the same transaction or occurrence as plaintiff's original claims, and was therefore not barred by the statute of limitations because of the relation-back doctrine. The Court of Appeals also held that an allegation of violation of the substantial product hazard reporting regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Commission constitutes a claim for which there is a private cause of action under the Consumer Product Safety Act. ¹

1. The Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. § 2051 et seq. (1982), contains no limitations period for the commencement of actions. Where federal law does not specify a statute of limitations, the Supreme Court has said:

[W]e do not ordinarily assume that Congress intended that there be no time limit on actions at all; rather, our task is to 'borrow' the most suitable statute or other rule of timeliness from some other source. We have generally concluded that Congress intended that the courts apply the most closely analogous statute of limitations under state law.

DelCostello v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 158, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 2287, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983). The Court, however,

has not mechanically applied a state statute of limitations simply because a limitations period is absent from the federal statute. State legislatures do not devise their limitations periods with national interests in mind, and it is the duty of the federal courts to assure that the importation of state law will not frustrate or interfere with the implementation of national policies. 'Although state law is our primary guide in this area, it is not, to be sure, our exclusive guide.'

Occidental Life Ins. Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n, 432 U.S. 355, 367, 97 S.Ct. 2447, 2454, 53 L.Ed.2d 402 (1977) (quoting Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454, 465, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1722, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975)). In Occidental, the Court found that state statutes of limitation would not apply to enforcement actions brought by the EEOC under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because Congress had created an administrative body, the EEOC, whose function was to investigate and, hopefully, settle disputes prior to the commencement of litigation. Analogous state statutes of limitation, not enacted with such a potentially lengthy administrative process in mind, were found to frustrate Congress' intent in establishing the EEOC procedure. Id. 432 U.S. at 368-69, 97 S.Ct. at 2455-56 (Court overturned district court decision applying California's 1-year limitations period to the EEOC action).

In the present case, Congress created a private right of action for damages in certain circumstances, for persons injured "by reason of any knowing (including willful) violation of a consumer product safety rule, or any other rule or order issued by the Commission." 15 U.S.C. § 2072(a) (1982). Congress specifically provided that this remedy "shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other remedies provided by common law or under Federal or State law." Id. § 2072(c). It appears that Congress intended the right of action under section 2072 to be simply another source of liability in addition to the typical claims which arise from injuries caused by consumer products: negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. Since the cause of action under the CPSA would arise from the same occurrences that give rise to liability under state common law, and there is no apparent overriding federal need for a uniform limitations period, the decision of the trial court and the Court of Appeals that the analogous state statute of limitations applies, was proper. Cf. McAllister v. Magnolia Petroleum Co., 357 U.S. 221, 224-26, 78 S.Ct. 1201, 1203-04, 2 L.Ed.2d 1272 (1958) (applying federal limitations period of Jones Act to a seaworthiness action under general admiralty law because...