Troy v. Kampgrounds of America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 18 January 1990
• Citation: 399 Pa.Super. 41,581 A.2d 665
• Parties: , Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 12,675 John Thomas TROY, Jr., in his own right and as Administrator of the Estate of Jennifer Troy, Deceased and as Father and Next of Friend of John Thomas Troy, III, a Minor, and Marilyn S. Troy v. KAMPGROUNDS OF AMERICA, INC., Frederick L. Madeira; La Deira, Inc.; Agway Petroleum Corporation; Cigna; UBA Fire and Explosion Investigators, Inc.; Emerson Electric Company; and Honeywell, Inc. v. SPEED QUEEN COMPANY, Subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation; A.O. Smith Company; Paul R. Bowers; PAC Industries; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources; William E. Sacra & Associates; and Jerry T. Stahlman v. HAMILTON STANDARD CONTROLS INC., ESSEX FLOW CONTROLS, DIVISION, A DIVISION OF UNITED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Appeal of Frederick L. MADEIRA and La Deira, Inc., Appellants. John Thomas TROY, Jr., in his own right and as Administrator of the Estate of Jennifer Troy, Deceased and as father and next of friend of John Thomas Troy, III, a minor, and Marilyn S. Troy, Appellants, v. KAMPGROUNDS OF AMERICA, INC.; Frederick L. Madeira; La Deira, Inc.; Agway Petroleum Corporation; Cigna; UBA Fire and Explosion Investigators, Inc.; Emerson Electric Company and Honeywell, Inc. v. SPEED QUEEN COMPANY, Subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation; A.O. Smith Company; Paul R. Bowers; PAC Industries; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources; William E. Sacra & Associates and Jerry T. Stahlman v. HAMILTON STANDARD CONTROLS, ESSEX FLOW CONTROL DIVISION, A DIVISION OF UNITED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 665

581 A.2d 665

399 Pa.Super. 41, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 12,675

John Thomas TROY, Jr., in his own right and as Administrator

of the Estate of Jennifer Troy, Deceased and as

Father and Next of Friend of John Thomas

Troy, III, a Minor, and Marilyn S. Troy v. KAMPGROUNDS OF AMERICA, INC., Frederick L. Madeira; La

Deira, Inc.; Agway Petroleum Corporation; Cigna;

UBA Fire and Explosion Investigators,

Inc.; Emerson Electric

Company; and Honeywell, Inc. v. SPEED QUEEN COMPANY, Subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation;

A.O. Smith Company; Paul R. Bowers; PAC Industries;

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources; William

E. Sacra & Associates; and Jerry T. Stahlman v. HAMILTON STANDARD CONTROLS INC., ESSEX FLOW CONTROLS,

DIVISION, A DIVISION OF UNITED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Appeal of Frederick L. MADEIRA and La Deira, Inc., Appellants.

John Thomas TROY, Jr., in his own right and as Administrator of the Estate of Jennifer Troy, Deceased and as father and next of friend of John Thomas Troy, III, a minor, and Marilyn S. Troy, Appellants, v. KAMPGROUNDS OF AMERICA, INC.; Frederick L. Madeira; La

Deira, Inc.; Agway Petroleum Corporation; Cigna;

UBA Fire and Explosion Investigators,

Inc.; Emerson Electric

Company and Honeywell, Inc. v. SPEED QUEEN COMPANY, Subsidiary of Raytheon Corporation;

A.O. Smith Company; Paul R. Bowers; PAC Industries;

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources; William

E. Sacra & Associates and Jerry T. Stahlman v. HAMILTON STANDARD CONTROLS, ESSEX FLOW CONTROL DIVISION, A

DIVISION OF UNITED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Jan. 18, 1990.

Filed Oct. 25, 1990.

Roger T. Shoop, Harrisburg, for appellants (at 176) and for Madeira, appellees (at 192).

David C. Eaton, Harrisburg, for appellant (at 192) and for Troy, appellee (at 176).

Dennis L. Platt, Philadelphia, for A.O. Smith, appellee.

Thomas O. Malcolm, West Chester, for Honeywell, appellee.

Robert P. Coleman, Philadelphia, for Speed Queen, appellee.

Before ROWLEY, FORD ELLIOTT and HOFFMAN, JJ.

FORD ELLIOTT, Judge:

This is an appeal and a cross-appeal from the grant of summary judgment in an action brought for the death of Jennifer Troy, age 3, the personal injuries of John Thomas Troy, III, age 9, the personal injuries of their parents, Marilyn S. Troy and John Thomas Troy, Jr., and the derivative damages of John Thomas Troy, Jr., which resulted from an explosion and fire in the laundry room of a Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA) campsite located in Dillsburg, Franklin Township, York County, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 2, 1981. We reverse and remand.

The campground is owned by La Deira, Inc. and operated by its President and chief stockholder Frederick L. Madeira under a franchise agreement with KOA. The laundry room, located in the basement of the campground office building, contained six washing machines and a holding tank for hot water. Propane gas from an outside tank was piped to the three Speed Queen gas dryers and an A.O. Smith gas hot water heater. The propane tank also supplied a gas stove on the second floor of the building.

At the time of the explosion, Marilyn S. Troy, accompanied by her two children, was sorting clothes in the laundry room of the KOA campground, preparing to do the family washing when she saw a "red ball" come from the direction of the dryers. As a result of the explosion and fire, Jennifer Troy received burns over 95% of her body and died two weeks later, Marilyn Troy sustained burns over 80% of her body, and John Troy, III, received burns over 50% of his body. John Troy, Jr., who was returning to the laundry from retrieving his wallet was also injured. ¹

The explosion and the ensuing fire totally destroyed the building. The gas range and some pipe were removed from the site and salvaged by investigators for the campground operator. State Police fire marshalls, investigators for the campground and investigators for Agway, supplier of the propane, had the opportunity to examine the damaged appliances. The building site was leveled and remains of the appliances destroyed on August 5, 1981, the Wednesday following the accident. Because of this, investigators for the Troys as well as the defendants and additional defendants on appeal never had an opportunity to examine either the damaged appliances or the remains of the office building.

On May 11, 1983, a complaint was filed and subsequently amended three times, various additional defendants were also joined. On August 20, 1985, an order was entered granting summary judgment in favor of Emerson Electric and A.O. Smith; summary judgment was also granted in favor of Robertshaw Controls Company, Warren Petroleum Corp. and Hamilton Standard Controls, Inc. Following an appeal, this Court reversed and remanded to allow additional discovery on August 29, 1986, stating that "because of the severe injuries and death, we feel that the ruling denying further discovery was too harsh." 359 Pa.Super. 635, 515 A.2d 623 (1986), allocatur denied, 515 Pa. 569, 526 A.2d 1191 (1987). On June 7, 1988, A.O. Smith and Emerson Electric filed for summary judgment, Honeywell filed for summary judgment on July 12, 1988, and Speed Queen on September 1, 1988. On February 24, 1989, the order forming the basis of this appeal granted summary judgments to the manufacturer of the dryers, Speed Queen, and to the manufacturer of the hot water heater, A.O. Smith as well as to Honeywell and Emerson Electric, alleged manufacturers of components for these appliances. This appeal followed, the Troys appealing from the grant of summary judgment in favor of Speed Queen and A.O. Smith, and defendants Madeira and La Deira appealing from the grant of summary judgment in favor of Honeywell and Emerson Electric. ²

In O'Neill v. Checker Motors, 389 Pa.Super. 430, 567 A.2d 680 (1989), we recently reiterated the standard of review for an appeal from the grant of summary judgment:

As an appellate court, we are bound to consider certain principles which dictate when and under what circumstances a trial court may properly enter summary judgment. Goebert v. Ondek, 384 Pa.Super. 100, 108-04, 557 A.2d 1064, 1066 (1989). The trial court must accept as true all well-pleaded facts in the non-moving party's pleadings, and give to him or to her the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom

Jefferson v. State Farm Insurance, 380 Pa.Super. 167, 170, 551 A.2d 283, 284 (1988). Summary judgment should not be entered unless the case is clear and free from doubt. Hathi v. Krewstown Park Apartments, 385 Pa.Super. 613, 615, 561 A.2d 1261, 1262 (1989). A grant of summary judgment is proper where the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file support the lower court's conclusion that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled judgment as a matter of law. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1035, 42 Pa.C.S.A.; Hatter v. Landsberg, 386 Pa.Super. 438, 440, 563 A.2d 146, 147-48 (1989). See Penn Center House, Inc. v. Hoffman, 520 Pa. 171, 176, 553 A.2d 900, 903 (1989) (entire record before lower court must be thoroughly examined and all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact are to be resolved against a grant of summary judgment). We will overturn a trial court's entry of summary judgment only if there has been an error of law or a clear abuse of discretion. McCain v. Pennbank, 379 Pa.Super. 313, 318, 549 A.2d 1311, 1313 (1988).

O'Neill, supra, 389 Pa.Super. at 434-435, 567 A.2d at 682.

In the present case, the trial court's decision is premised on the conclusion that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the cumulative value of the Troys' evidence is insufficient to carry their burden "on the subject matter of these motions." Trial court opinion, at 6. Our thorough review of the record reveals conflict in testimony and controverted issues which appear to us to be material.

The trial court, rather than accepting as true all well-pleaded facts of the non-moving parties and resolving any doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact against the moving party, did the opposite. The various defendants in the present case have been charged on theories of negligence, product liability and destruction of evidence. Recognizing the malfunction theory of products liability, (malfunction may be inferred from the fact of failure in the absence of abnormal use and reasonable secondary causes), the trial court concluded from the opinion of the Troys' expert that the Troys would be unable to establish a defective condition. The trial court stated:

[d]espite seven years of extensive discovery, however, no witnesses nor any experts have been able to state with any degree of reasonable certainty that a defect existed in the appliances....

Trial court opinion, at 8.

However, the malfunction theory of products liability does not require the Troys to prove a defective condition.

A plaintiff presents a prima facie case of strict liability by establishing that the product was defective and that the product caused the plaintiff's injury. In most instances the plaintiff will produce direct evidence of the product's defective condition. In some instances, however, the plaintiff may not be able to prove the precise nature of the defect, in which case reliance may be had on the "malfunction" theory of product liability. This theory encompasses nothing more than circumstantial evidence of product malfunction. It permits a plaintiff to prove a defect in a product with evidence of the occurrence of a malfunction and with evidence eliminating abnormal use or reasonable secondary causes for the malfunction. It thereby relieves the plaintiff from demonstrating precisely the nature of the defect yet it permits the trier-of-fact to infer one existed from the evidence of the malfunction, of the absence of abnormal use and of the absence of reasonable secondary causes (citations omitted).

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