Van Slambrouck v. Economy Baler Co.
| Decision Date | 22 February 1985 |
| Docket Number | 59709,Nos. 59708,s. 59708 |
| Citation | 105 Ill.2d 462,86 Ill.Dec. 488,475 N.E.2d 867 |
| Parties | , 86 Ill.Dec. 488 Michael J. VAN SLAMBROUCK et al., v. ECONOMY BALER COMPANY et al. (Economy Baler Company, Appellant, v. Marshall Field & Company, Appellee). William Michael GUNDERSON v. GOODALL RUBBER COMPANY et al. (Goodall Rubber Company, Appellant, v. Schwerman Trucking Company, Appellee). |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Kralovec, Marquard, Doyle & Gibbons, Chartered, Chicago, for Economy Baler Co.; Henry J. Marquard, Harry Ray Chiles, Jr., Nancy Jo Arnold, Chicago, of counsel.
Jacobs, Williams & Montgomery, Ltd., Chicago, for Goodall Rubber Co.; Barry L. Kroll, Lloyd E. Williams, Jr., Chicago, of counsel.
Hinshaw, Culbertson, Moelmann, Hoban & Fuller, Chicago, for Marshall Field & Co.; Charles H. Cole, Stephen R. Swofford, of counsel.
French, Rogers, Kezelis & Kominiarek, P.C., Chicago, for Schwerman Trucking Co.; Richard G. French, Dorothy F. French, Russell P. Veldenz, of counsel.
We have consolidated the following two cases for review, Van Slambrouck v. Economy Baler Company, No. 59708 (Van Slambrouck ), and Gunderson v. Goodall Rubber Company, No. 59709 (Gunderson ). First, we will set forth the facts of each case. Then, we will discuss the issues presented by these two cases.
The procedural history of Van Slambrouck is long and involved. Because of our holding in the case it is not necessary to set forth the Van Slambrouck facts in detail. Michael Van Slambrouck worked for a janitorial service, Lein Chemical Company. Marshall Field and Company (Field's) hired Lein Chemical to service its Old Orchard store. On November 10, 1973, Van Slambrouck's left foot was amputated while using a paper-baling machine at work. Economy Baler Company (Economy) manufactured the baling machine, Field's owned the machine, and Lein Chemical used the machine.
Van Slambrouck sued Economy and Field's in the circuit court of Cook County in July 1974. However, Van Slambrouck voluntarily dismissed Field's with prejudice as a defendant in the case on October 6, 1976.
On August 30, 1979, Van Slambrouck moved to vacate the October 6, 1976, order which dismissed Field's from the case. In Van Slambrouck's motion, he contended that a recent inspection by Economy revealed that the paper-baling machine malfunctioned because Field's employees had removed parts from the machine. The circuit court denied the motion.
On November 15, 1979, Van Slambrouck again sued Field's. This complaint was dismissed with prejudice on March 4, 1980.
Van Slambrouck filed a fifth amended complaint against Economy on March 28, 1980. Count I of the amended complaint alleged strict products liability, and count II alleged negligence. Economy then filed a counterclaim against Field's on April 7, 1980, seeking indemnity based on active/passive negligence. On November 13, 1981, Economy amended the counterclaim seeking either indemnity or contribution. Field's motion to dismiss the amended counterclaim was granted. The circuit court held: (1) that Economy's counterclaim was barred by the prior adjudication that Field's was not negligent with regard to Van Slambrouck (the October 1976 voluntary dismissal with prejudice); (2) that since Economy was the manufacturer of the product it was actively negligent as a matter of law and, therefore, could not maintain an indemnity action based on active/passive negligence against a downstream owner such as Field's; and (3) that contribution was unavailable to Economy because of this court's decision in Skinner v. Reed-Prentice Division Package Machinery Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 1, 15 Ill.Dec. 829, 374 N.E.2d 437. Economy appealed the circuit court's dismissal of its amended counterclaim. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court on the indemnity and contribution issues. (120 Ill.App.3d 843, 76 Ill.Dec. 442, 458 N.E.2d 1096.) Because of its holding the appellate court did not reach the issue of whether Economy's counterclaim was barred by the prior adjudication that Field's was not negligent. Economy then petitioned this court for leave to appeal, and we allowed the petition. (We note that Van Slambrouck has not gone to trial.)
Before we discuss the merits of Van Slambrouck, we will set forth the facts of Gunderson. William Gunderson was employed by Schwerman Trucking Company (Schwerman). On August 25, 1977, Gunderson was severely injured at work when a rubber hose ruptured and caused a caustic substance to burn his eyes. As a result of the injuries, Gunderson lost his sight.
Gunderson filed a lawsuit based on a theory of products liability against Goodall Rubber Company of Canada, Ltd., the manufacturer of the hose; Goodall Rubber Company (Goodall), the distributor of the rubber hose, and Hi-Way Power and Equipment Corporation, a broker which had ordered the rubber hose from Goodall and then sold it to Schwerman.
Goodall filed a third-party action against Schwerman seeking contribution. Schwerman moved to strike Goodall's contribution claim, and the motion was granted.
Gunderson's case proceeded to trial. A jury in the circuit court of Cook County awarded a verdict to Gunderson, assessing damages in the amount of $5 million against all three defendants. In a special interrogatory, the jury found that the rubber hose was in an unreasonably dangerous condition when it left the control of all three defendants and that the unreasonably dangerous condition was a proximate cause of Gunderson's injury.
While post-trial motions were pending, Goodall obtained leave to file a second amended complaint against Schwerman seeking indemnity. Goodall alleged that if it was negligent at all, it was passively negligent and that Schwerman was actively negligent since Schwerman used the hose improperly. Schwerman moved to dismiss the amended complaint and the circuit court granted the motion. Goodall then appealed to the appellate court. 120 Ill.App.3d 748, 76 Ill.Dec. 445, 458 N.E.2d 1099.
Goodall's notice of appeal to the appellate court sought review of the circuit court's order dismissing Goodall's contribution claim and indemnity claims against Schwerman. However, Goodall's only request was that the appellate court reverse and remand the circuit court's order with respect to the indemnity claim. The appellate court noted that the contribution action would have been barred because the cause of action arose before March 1, 1978, the date contribution became available in Illinois.
With regard to its indemnity action, Goodall argued that Skinner v. Reed-Prentice Division Package Machinery Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 1, 15 Ill.Dec. 829, 374 N.E.2d 437, and Stevens v. Silver Manufacturing Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 41, 15 Ill.Dec. 847, 374 N.E.2d 455, allowed " 'downstream' indemnity actions, brought under a theory of active/passive negligence." (120 Ill.App.3d 748, 750, 76 Ill.Dec. 445, 458 N.E.2d 1099.) The appellate court held, however, that those cases and their companion case of Robinson v. International Harvester Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 47, 15 Ill.Dec. 850, 374 N.E.2d 458, only applied to causes of action arising on or after March 1, 1978. Therefore, the court held that Goodall's indemnity action was properly dismissed since the cause of action arose before March 1, 1978.
Goodall filed a petition for leave to appeal with this court, and we granted the petition. We consolidated the appeal in Gunderson with the appeal in Van Slambrouck.
Having set forth the facts of Van Slambrouck and Gunderson, we now turn to the issues presented in these cases. The issues in Van Slambrouck are: (1) whether we should modify the prospective application of our holding in Skinner v. Reed-Prentice Division Package Machinery Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 1, 15 Ill.Dec. 829, 374 N.E.2d 437, which held that the right to contribution applies only to causes of action arising on or after March 1, 1978; (2) whether the manufacturer of a product can maintain an indemnity action against a user of the product when the cause of action arose prior to March 1, 1978; and (3) whether Van Slambrouck's voluntary dismissal of Field's from the case with prejudice bars Economy's counterclaim against Field's. In Gunderson the issue is whether the distributor of a product can maintain an indemnity action when the distributor's liability is based on strict liability and the cause of action arose prior to March 1, 1978.
We begin our analysis with a discussion of the contribution issue in Van Slambrouck. Economy argues that this court should modify the date which was set as the effective date that contribution would be available in this State (March 1, 1978) and to now allow contribution to be available to all cases tried on or after June 8, 1981, the date that comparative negligence became applicable to cases. (Alvis v. Ribar (1981), 85 Ill.2d 1, 52 Ill.Dec. 23, 421 N.E.2d 886.) Economy argues that the "three year gap results in an injustice to Economy by subjecting it to comparative negligence without allowing it to have the benefit of contribution from Marshall Field for this accident." Because of this perceived injustice, Economy has asked this court to modify our ruling in Skinner v. Reed-Prentice Division Package Machinery Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 1, 15 Ill.Dec. 829, 374 N.E.2d 437, by allowing all cases tried on and after the date of our opinion in this case to be governed by both comparative negligence and contribution.
As we stated in Skinner, Stevens v. Silver Manufacturing Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 41, 15 Ill.Dec. 847, 374 N.E.2d 455, and Robinson v. International Harvester Co. (1977), 70 Ill.2d 47, 15 Ill.Dec. 850, 374 N.E.2d 458, contribution only applies to causes of action arising out of occurrences on or after March 1, 1978. In addition to our holdings in these three cases, the legislature has provided by statute that the right of contribution applies only to causes of action arising on or after March 1, 1978. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 70,...
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