Woodin v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 August 1993
• Citation: Woodin v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc., 629 A.2d 974, 427 Pa.Super. 488 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1993)
• Parties: , Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 13,730 Robert K. WOODIN and Alice D. Woodin, Appellants, v. J.C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC., Appellee, v. REVCO, INC., A DIVISION OF RHEEM MANUFACTURING CO., Admiral Industries, Inc., A Division of Magic Chef, Inc., Hardwick, Maytag Corp. and White Consolidated Industries, Inc.--Freezer Division (Formerly Franklin Manufacturing Co.), A Division of White Consolidated Industries, Inc., Appellees.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 974

629 A.2d 974

427 Pa.Super. 488, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 13,730

Robert K. WOODIN and Alice D. Woodin, Appellants, v.J.C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC., Appellee, v.REVCO, INC., A DIVISION OF RHEEM MANUFACTURING CO., Admiral

Industries, Inc., A Division of Magic Chef, Inc., Hardwick,

Maytag Corp. and White Consolidated Industries,

Inc.--Freezer Division (Formerly Franklin Manufacturing

Co.), A Division of White Consolidated Industries, Inc., Appellees.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued April 13, 1993.

Filed Aug. 6, 1993.

Robert S. Garrett, Pittsburgh, for appellees.

Before WIEAND, POPOVICH and HESTER, JJ.

WIEAND, Judge:

In this action to recover fire damage attributed by plaintiffs to a defectively manufactured freezer cord, the trial court set aside a verdict for the plaintiffs and entered judgment n.o.v. in favor of the defendant seller and manufacturer.Plaintiffs appealed.We affirm.

Early in 1979, Robert and Alice Woodin purchased a chest type freezer from J.C. Penney Company, Inc.The freezer had been manufactured by White Consolidated Industries, Inc.It was delivered by Penney's employees and placed in the northeast corner of the utility room located on the first floor of the Woodin home.The utility room was approximately eighteen (18) feet wide and eight (8) feet long, had wood panelled walls and a plywood floor finished with Armstrong linoleum.The back of the freezer was placed along the east wall of the room, and the left end of the unit was positioned along the north wall.Only two and one-half (2 1/2) feet of unoccupied space existed between the right end of the freezer and the south wall of the room.Because the power cord, which extended from the unit's compressor in the back, left corner of the freezer, was of insufficient length, an extension cord was used to connect the freezer to the electrical outlet located at the southeast corner of the room.

For more than eight years the freezer operated continuously without complaint.On December 2, 1987, the Woodins left their home at or about 9:30 a.m.A fire was reported about noon.Alleging that the fire had been caused by a defect in the power cord, the Woodins filed suit against J.C. Penney, which, in turn, joined White, the manufacturer, as an additional defendant.

At trial, the plaintiffs relied on the testimony of expert witnesses that the fire had been caused by a short circuit in the power cord near the unit's compressor.The defendants contended, however, that the fire had not originated in the area of the compressor and that it could not have been started by a short circuit in the power cord.A jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs for $67,850.00, the amount of the damages stipulated by the parties.The trial court overruled the jury's verdict because there was an absence of evidence identifying any defect in the cord of the freezer and because the verdict, therefore, could be based on nothing but speculation.

The standard of review on appeal was recently stated by the Supreme Court in Moure v. Raeuchle, 529 Pa. 394, 604 A.2d 1003(1992), as follows:

In reviewing a motion for judgment n.o.v., "the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to the verdict winner, and he must be given the benefit of every reasonable inference of fact arising therefrom, and any conflict in the evidence must be resolved in his favor."Broxie v. Household Finance Company, 472 Pa. 373, 380, 372 A.2d 741, 745(1977).See also, Metts v. Griglak, 438 Pa. 392, 264 A.2d 684(1970)andGonzalez v. United States Steel Corp., 484 Pa. 277, 398 A.2d 1378(1979).Moreover, [a] judgment n.o.v. should only be entered in a clear case and any doubts must be resolved in favor of the verdict winner.SeeAtkins v. Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, 489 Pa. 344, 414 A.2d 100(1980)andStewart v. Chernicky, 439 Pa. 43, 266 A.2d 259(1970).

Id. at 402, 604 A.2d at 1007.See also: Lowry v. State Farm Insurance Companies, 392 Pa.Super. 77, 572 A.2d 700(1990), allocatur denied, 527 Pa. 601, 589 A.2d 692(1990).

It is well settled that in order to recover on a theory of strict product liability, a plaintiff must prove that (1) the product was defective; (2) the defect was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries; and (3) the defect existed at the time it left the manufacturer's control.Berkebile v. Brantly Helicopter Corp., 462 Pa. 83, 93-94, 337 A.2d 893, 898(1975);Roselli v. General Electric Co., 410 Pa.Super. 223, 229, 599 A.2d 685, 688(1991), allocatur granted, 530 Pa. 645, 607 A.2d 255(1992), appeal discont'd, January 11, 1993.Generally, a plaintiff will produce direct evidence of a product's defective condition.In those cases where the plaintiff is unable to prove the precise nature of the product's defect, however, he may, in some cases, rely on the "malfunction theory" of product liability.Rogers v. Johnson & Johnson Products, Inc., 523 Pa. 176, 182, 565 A.2d 751, 754(1989).The malfunction theory allows the plaintiff to use circumstantial evidence to establish a defective product.In Rogers v. Johnson & Johnson Products, Inc., supra, the court stated:

[The malfunction theory] 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.[The plaintiff is relieved] from demonstrating precisely the defect yet it permits the trier-of-fact to infer one existed from evidence of the malfunction, of the absence of abnormal use and of the absence of reasonable, secondary causes.

Id.(citations omitted).Although proof of a specific defect is not essential to establish liability under this theory, the plaintiff cannot depend upon conjecture or guesswork."The mere fact that an accident happens, even in this enlightened age, does not take the injured plaintiff to the jury."Stein v. General Motors Corp., 58 D. & C.2d 193, 203 (Bucks 1972), aff'd, 222 Pa.Super. 751, 295 A.2d 111(1972).

The freezer in the instant case had functioned flawlessly for more than eight (8) years.Appellants testified that they had at no time observed wearing or deterioration of the power cord.In Kuisis v. Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp., 457 Pa. 321, 319 A.2d 914(1974), the Supreme Court stated as follows:

We recognize that, as a general rule, "prolonged use of a manufactured article is but one factor, albeit an important one, in the determination of the factual issue whether [a defect in design or]...