Townes v. Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 July 2001
• Citation: 50 S.W.3d 446
• Parties: Raymond TOWNES, et al., v. SUNBEAM OSTER CO., INC., et al.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

50 S.W.3d 446

Raymond TOWNES, et al., v. SUNBEAM OSTER CO., INC., et al.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, at Nashville.

February 5, 2001.

Permission to Appeal Denied July 16, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles J. Williams and John B. Carlson, Nashville, TN, and Louis C. Accurso, Kansas City, MO, for appellants, Raymond Townes and Marie Giddens Townes.

Philip M. Kirkpatrick and Jeffrey M. Beemer, Nashville, TN, and James W. Ozog, Downers Grove, IL, for appellee, Sunbeam Oster Company, Inc.

Permission to Appeal Denied by Supreme Court July 16, 2001.

OPINION

KOCH, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which CANTRELL and CAIN, JJ., joined.

This appeal involves a products liability action stemming from the explosion of a propane grill. The plaintiffs originally filed suit in the Circuit Court for Davidson County naming the grill manufacturer and others as defendants. Thereafter, they took a voluntary nonsuit against the grill manufacturer. The present dispute arose when the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint asserting new claims against the grill manufacturer and additional claims against the other defendants. After the trial court granted a summary judgment for the manufacturer on the ground that the amended complaint was barred by the statute of limitations, the plaintiffs attempted to bring the manufacturer back into the litigation by seeking to file a third amended complaint pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119 (1994). The trial court declined to permit the plaintiffs to amend their complaint on the ground that Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119 does not apply to parties who were known to the plaintiff when the original complaint was filed. The plaintiffs appealed to this court. We have determined that the trial court correctly concluded that the plaintiffs could not take advantage of the relation-back provisions in Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03; however, we have also concluded that the trial court should have permitted the amendment under Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119.

On November 11, 1993, Raymond and Marie Townes purchased a portable propane gas grill from a Wal-Mart store. The grill was manufactured by Sunbeam Oster Co. ("Sunbeam") and incorporated a propane gas tank manufactured by Manchester Tank & Equipment Company ("Manchester"). On the same day the Townes purchased the grill, they filled the tank with propane at England Motors, Inc. ("England Motors") in Hermitage.

Approximately one week later, the Townes used their new grill at a cookout at their home. Following the cookout, they heard "popping" and "hissing" noises coming from the grill. On December 1, 1993, Mr. Townes discussed the problem with a Wal-Mart employee who instructed him to drain the propane tank and to return the grill to the store where he had purchased it. Mr. Townes undertook to empty the tank by opening the service valve to release the propane. When he thought the tank had been fully drained, he placed the grill and tank in his car trunk. Unbeknownst to Mr. Townes, the tank he believed to be empty still contained propane.

The propane gas continued to escape from the tank while the Townes drove to Wal-Mart to return the grill. Ms. Townes did not detect the odor of the escaping propane. Mr. Townes smelled a faint odor of propane, but he believed that the odor was the residue of the propane that had been released when he emptied the tank. Regrettably, the propane gas that had escaped into the automobile exploded when one of the Townes ignited a cigarette. The explosion and ensuing fire injured both Mr. Townes and Ms. Townes.

On October 13, 1994, the Townes filed suit in the Circuit Court for Davidson County against Wal-Mart, Sunbeam, Manchester, England Motors, and Suburban Propane Gas Corporation ("Suburban"), the supplier of the propane they had purchased at England Motors.¹ The complaint alleged that the gas grill and the propane tank were defective and unreasonably dangerous because of a phenomenon known as "odor fade." It alleged that Sunbeam and Manchester should have been aware that purchasers would be unable to detect gas leaks because the smell of the chemical odorant added to propane gas to make it easier to detect was subject to fading when used in grills like the one the Townes had purchased.

Sunbeam filed its answer on December 15, 1994, denying liability and asserting that the Townes were at fault because of the way they used the grill. The other defendants also answered. During the discovery that ensued, the Townes, Sunbeam, and the other parties inspected the grill, as well as its propane tank. On August 10, 1995, ten months after filing their original complaint, the Townes voluntarily nonsuited Wal-Mart and Sunbeam pursuant to Tenn.R.Civ.P. 41.01.² Later, one of the lawyers representing the Townes explained that they dismissed Sunbeam because of their mistaken belief that Sunbeam was not involved in manufacturing the propane tank. They apparently believed that Manchester was the sole manufacturer.

In January 1997, the Townes discovered that Manchester ordinarily installed two safety devices on tanks similar to the tank used on the Sunbeam grill but that it had not installed these devices on the tanks sold to Sunbeam.³ In April 1997, as part of their settlement negotiations with Manchester, the Townes learned that Manchester had offered to include these safety devices on the tanks it sold to Sunbeam but that Sunbeam had declined to purchase tanks with these devices. Not surprisingly, the Townes decided that they would never have nonsuited Sunbeam had they possessed that information.

The Townes eventually settled their odor fade claims with Suburban and Shell. Thereafter, the trial court permitted the Townes to file a second amended complaint containing new design defect allegations against Manchester based on the absence of the two safety devices from the tank. The second amended complaint, which was filed on June 23, 1997—more than three years after the explosion—also named Sunbeam as a defendant and asserted new claims against Sunbeam for its failure to install the safety devices on the propane tank.

Sunbeam moved for a summary judgment on the ground that the Townes's new claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Meanwhile, Manchester filed its answer to the Townes's amended complaint and, pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119 (1994), raised as a defense the comparative fault of its codefendants, including Sunbeam. Following a hearing on September 26, 1997, the trial court ruled from the bench that the Townes's new claims against Sunbeam were time-barred because they could not take advantage of the relation-back feature of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03. The trial court also held that the Townes could not take advantage of Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119 because Sunbeam was not an unknown party when the Townes filed their second amended complaint.⁴

On October 3, 1997, the Townes requested permission to file their third amended complaint. In addition to striking their claim for punitive damages and all their claims against Manchester except for strict liability, the Townes again undertook to add Sunbeam as a defendant in accordance with Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119. In support of their motion, they pointed out that Sunbeam was no longer a party to the litigation in light of the trial court's dismissal of the claims against Sunbeam in their second amended complaint. In an order filed on October 29, 1997, the trial court denied the Townes's motion to amend, as it pertained to the Sunbeam claims.

The Townes are now appealing from the dismissal of the Sunbeam claims in their second and third amended complaints. First, they assert that these claims are not barred by the statute of limitations because they relate back to their first timely-filed complaint in accordance with Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03. Second, they assert that Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-1-119 permits them to add Sunbeam as a defendant because Manchester had alleged in its answer to the second amended complaint that Sunbeam was one of the parties who caused or contributed to the Townes's injuries.

I. RELATION-BACK UNDER TENN.R.CIV.P. 15.03

We turn first to the Townes's claim that they should be permitted to rely on the relation-back provisions in Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 to save their new claims against Sunbeam from the fatal operation of the statute of limitations. The trial court held that the Townes could not take advantage of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 because they had been delinquent in discovering Sunbeam's connection with the manufacturing of the propane tank. While we have concluded that delinquency in discovery is not an appropriate consideration with regard to the application of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03, we have determined that the rule does not apply in this case because the Townes have not met the rule's "mistake or misnomer" requirement.⁵

The courts should construe Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 liberally to promote the consideration of claims on their merits. Floyd v. Rentrop, 675 S.W.2d 165, 168 (Tenn.1984); McCracken v. Brentwood United Methodist Church, 958 S.W.2d 792, 794 (Tenn.Ct.App.1997). However, Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 should not be used to breathe life into claims that are plainly time-barred. Turner v. Aldor Co. of Nashville, Inc., 827 S.W.2d 318, 321-22 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991).

The purpose of Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.03 is to enable parties to correct the "mislabeling of a party they intended to sue," Grantham v. Jackson-Madison County Gen. Hosp. Dist., 954 S.W.2d 36, 38 (Tenn.1997), not to add a new party who was simply overlooked. Rainey Bros. Constr. Co. v. Memphis & Shelby County Bd. of Adjustment, 821 S.W.2d 938, 941 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991); Smith v. Southeastern Props., Ltd., 776 S.W.2d 106, 109 (Tenn.Ct.App.1989). Thus, the rule does not apply when a plaintiff seeks to amend its complaint to add a defendant that it previously nonsuited. Bennett v. Town & Country Ford, Inc., 816 S.W.2d 52, 54 (Tenn.Ct.App.1991).

The outcome of this issue is controlled by the Bennett v. Town &...