Wenrick v. Schloemann-Siemag Aktiengesellschaft

• Decision Date: 16 October 1989
• Docket Number: SCHLOEMANN-SIEMAG
• Citation: 523 Pa. 1,564 A.2d 1244
• Parties: , Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 12,282 Nancy L. WENRICK, Administratrix of the Estate of Harold Wenrick, Deceased, Appellant, v.AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT and Eaton Corporation, Successor-in-interest by merger to Cutler-Hammer, Inc., Appellees. 62 E.D. 1988
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Page 1244

564 A.2d 1244

523 Pa. 1, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 12,282

Nancy L. WENRICK, Administratrix of the Estate of Harold

Wenrick, Deceased, Appellant, v. SCHLOEMANN-SIEMAG AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT and Eaton Corporation,

Successor-in-interest by merger to Cutler-Hammer,

Inc., Appellees.

62 E.D. 1988

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Dec. 8, 1988.

Decided Oct. 16, 1989.

Robert M. Britton and William F. Sullivan, Jr., Philadelphia, for appellant.

Francis J. Deasey and James L. McKenna, Philadelphia, for Eaton Corp.

Charles C. Hileman, Philadelphia, for Scholemann-Seimag Aktiengesellschaft.

Before NIX, C.J., and LARSEN, FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS and STOUT, JJ.

OPINION

ZAPPALA, Justice.

This appeal presents a single issue: whether Superior Court exceeded the scope of its review when it reversed the trial court and directed entry of judgment n.o.v. in favor of Eaton Corporation. 361 Pa.Super. 137, 522 A.2d 52.

Harold Wenrick, a mechanic first class employed by Cerro Metal Products Company in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, was killed while he was engaged in repairing an extrusion press at the Cerro plant. The press operates by taking large cylinders of heated brass, called billets, and pushing them through a container, forcing the malleable brass through openings of various dimensions. The tubes or rods that are produced are then used in the manufacture of brass products. A hydraulic loader lifts the billets into position to be forced through the press. The billet loader must then retract to permit passage of the ram, which pushes the billet through the container. On the day of the fatal accident, Harold Wenrick was standing beneath the billet loader, which was in its fully extended position, and was crushed when the loader retracted.

Nancy Wenrick brought this action, as administratrix of her husband's estate and on behalf of herself and her children, against Schloemann-Siemag Aktiengesellschaft (SMS AG), the manufacturer and designer of the press, Schloemann-Siemag, Inc. (SMS Inc.), the corporate successor to Feller Engineering Co., which had been SMS AG's representative in the United States when the press was ordered and constructed, and Eaton Corporation, successor to Cutler-Hammer, Inc., the supplier and designer of the electrical control system of the press.

The action was framed in three counts--strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. Prior to trial, the plaintiff negotiated a settlement with SMS AG and SMS, Inc., and executed a joint tortfeasor release as to them. These parties remained in the case, however, and litigated several issues, including their comparative liability, the decedent's contributory negligence, the amount of damages, and the additional claims by and against Eaton. After all the evidence had been received, by agreement of all parties a directed verdict was ordered dismissing SMS, Inc. The plaintiff also withdrew the breach of warranty claim. The jury's verdict was against both SMS AG and Eaton on the two remaining counts; in the negligence count, the jury assigned 65% of the liability to SMS AG and 35% to Eaton.

Eaton filed post-trial motions, including a motion for judgment n.o.v., which were denied by the trial court sitting en banc. On appeal, Superior Court reversed the order denying Eaton judgment n.o.v., as to both the strict liability and the negligence counts, and remanded for entry of such judgment in Eaton's favor.

It is agreed that the proper scope of review for an appellate court examining a denial of judgment n.o.v., according to the longstanding rule, is whether, reading the record in light most favorable to the verdict winner and granting him the benefit of every favorable inference, there is sufficient competent evidence to support the verdict. Wenrick asserts that the Superior Court, though acknowledging this rule, exceeded its authority under this standard and ignored evidence that supported the verdict, relying instead on evidence that supported the defendant's position.

Though no direct evidence was presented as to why the billet loader retracted, circumstantial evidence, based on which mechanisms had the capacity to cause the retraction and where people were located at the time of the accident, supported the plaintiff's theory that a switch, normally tripped by the ram when it reached a certain point in its progress, was inadvertently triggered by a workman descending a pair of steps into the service pit beneath the press. The plaintiff's expert testified that the switch was a part of the electrical control system for the press designed by Cutler-Hammer. It was his opinion that the absence of a guard to cover the actuating part of the switch "was a defect in design and manufacture as installed and as used." He also testified that, in his opinion, in accordance with accepted engineering practice Cutler-Hammer had a duty to warn SMS AG about the danger posed by the location of the unguarded switch above the steps.

Wenrick argues in this appeal that the evidence adduced at trial and inferences that may be drawn from that evidence support the conclusions that the electrical control system design supplied by Cutler-Hammer was defective, and that Cutler-Hammer ought to have warned of the danger, in the manner suggested by her expert witness. Superior Court, she argues, exceeded its reviewing authority in holding otherwise.

After carefully scrutinizing the entire record, we agree with the Superior Court that the plaintiff's evidence does not support the conclusion that the electrical control system designed by Cutler-Hammer was defective. The defect, as identified by the plaintiff's own expert witness, both on direct examination and on cross-examination, was "the unguarded condition of the switch and the proximate location of the switch relative to the steps." R. 665a (emphasis added). The evidence, however, was uncontradicted, even by plaintiff's expert, that all of the considerations that went into where the switch would be located were determinations made by SMS AG. Wenrick argues that because Cutler-Hammer, using sequence diagrams and descriptions supplied by SMS AG, participated in the design of the press, it necessarily must have been involved in positioning the switch, and thus be responsible for the defect arising out of its dangerous placement. Based on the evidence in the record, we do not find this inference reasonable, much less necessary.

The plaintiff's expert formed his opinion that Cutler-Hammer's design had included placement of the switch by examining wiring diagrams. There is no evidence, however, that these diagrams, or any of the sequence diagrams from SMS AG to Cutler-Hammer, contained any indication of the dimensions or layout of the completed press as it would be installed. Indeed, the only evidence on point is that none of this information was necessary to the design of the electrical control system. Specifically, there is no evidence that Cutler-Hammer, in designing the electrical control system, had any indication of the placement of the service pit located under the press or of the steps into the pit. Since, as the plaintiff's expert testified, the defect consisted of an unguarded switch located above these access steps, and since the placement of the pit, the steps, the rails on which the switch was located, and the switch itself were all decisions made by SMS AG in manufacturing the press, and none were dictated by the electrical design supplied by Cutler-Hammer, the evidence is not sufficient to sustain the strict liability claim against Eaton, Cutler-Hammer's successor.

The remaining question is whether Superior Court erred in directing judgment n.o.v. in favor of Eaton on the negligence count. The plaintiff's theory of negligence was that Cutler-Hammer had a duty, which it breached, to warn of the danger presented by the placement of the unguarded switch above the steps where it could be inadvertently triggered.

After the press had been installed at the Cerro site, Cutler-Hammer personnel were present, along with representatives from ...