Bahamas Agricultural Industries Ltd. v. Riley Stoker Corp.

526 F.2d 1174, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 385, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11488
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedDecember 12, 1975
DocketNos. 75-1148 to 75-1150
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 526 F.2d 1174 (Bahamas Agricultural Industries Ltd. v. Riley Stoker Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bahamas Agricultural Industries Ltd. v. Riley Stoker Corp., 526 F.2d 1174, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 385, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11488 (6th Cir. 1975).

Opinion

WEICK, Circuit Judge.

Bahamas Agricultural Industries Limited (BAIL) and its insurer, plaintiffs-appellants, have appealed from a judgment of the District Court entered upon a directed verdict in favor ’of defendant, Bailey Meter Company (Bailey Meter), and from a judgment setting aside a jury verdict in their favor and dismissing their complaint against defendant, Riley Stoker Corporation (Riley Stoker), for an alleged inconsistency between the jury’s verdict and the jury’s answer to an interrogatory.

[1177]*1177The suit in the District Court was a complex diversity action arising out of an explosion of a steam boiler on Abaco Island, Bahamas, which boiler was newly purchased by BAIL from the defendants, the explosion causing property damage in the stipulated amount of $725,895. Riley Stoker was the manufacturer of the boiler and Bailey Meter was the manufacturer of the instrument panel designed to operate the boiler. The suit was for the damages suffered by BAIL and its insurer arising out of the defendants’ alleged negligence, breach of express and implied warranties, breach of contract and strict liability.

Both Riley Stoker and Bailey Meter had agreed to provide the services of “start-up engineers”, in a consulting capacity, to perform certain tests which were prerequisite to starting the operation of the new boiler. The explosion occurred while a service representative of appellee Bailey Meter (Glen Ocheskey) was monitoring the boiler controls. Ocheskey had determined from the instrument panel that something was wrong with the boiler, and had gone to find someone who worked for BAIL to determine how to proceed. The explosion occurred before they returned.

There was a factual dispute as to whether the service representative of Riley Stoker (Jesse Odom) was charged with monitoring the flame. It was crucial that the flame be monitored because the automatic safety devices controlling the operation of the Maxon valve, which regulated the flow of fuel oil to the boiler, were disengaged by Ocheskey, and changed to manual control when he had observed the reappearance of an abnormal air cycling problem, which he knew could be dangerous. However, it is undisputed that no one was monitoring the flame at the time of the explosion; that there was a flame out; and that there was a subsequent loss of pressure in the boiler. Because of the open Maxon valve, fuel oil continued to be sprayed into the burner chamber where it vaporized into an explosive mixture which was ignited by the hot walls of the combustion chamber.

This case is governed by Ohio conflicts of law. Both parties, pursuant to Ohio law, stipulated that the Bahamian comparative negligence statute should be applied in this litigation. Ohio Rev.Code § 1301.05(A).

The District Court granted defendant, Bailey Meter’s motion for a directed verdict. In addition, the District Court directed a verdict for defendant, Riley Stoker, on the issues of contract and express and implied warranty, but denied the motion to direct &■ verdict with respect to the issue of negligence.

The jury returned a general verdict in favor of plaintiffs and against Riley Stoker, and answered special interrogatories submitted by the Court. The District Judge determined that the answers to the interrogatories were inconsistent with the general verdict, and he entered judgment in favor of Riley Stoker pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 49(b).

For the reasons hereinafter stated, we reverse the judgments of the District Court with respect to defendants, Riley Stoker and Bailey Meter, and remand to the District Court for a new trial. In addition, the third-party pleadings, which were dismissed by the District Court, are hereby reinstated. The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied.

I

BAILEY METER

The District Judge directed a verdict for Bailey Meter on the ground that BAIL failed to establish a prima facie case in that it offered no evidence of a standard against which the jury could judge the conduct of Bailey Meter’s service representative Ocheskey. The District Judge relied on Republic Light & Furniture Co. v. Cincinnati, 97 Ohio App. 532, 127 N.E.2d 767 (1954), for the.proposition that whenever the standard of care appropriate in a given situation is not within the common knowledge of the jury the burden is on the plaintiff to [1178]*1178introduce substantial evidence proving the appropriate standard of care.

In our opinion the District Judge erred in his interpretation of Ohio law. The Supreme Court of Ohio has declared that there is no general rule or policy in Ohio which requires expert testimony as to the standard of care in a particular case. Thompson v. Ohio Fuel Gas Co., 9 Ohio St.2d 116, 224 N.E.2d 131 (1967). In Thompson the trial court had directed a verdict for the defendant Gas Company in a wrongful death action arising out of an explosion which occurred when a county employee was engaged in routine maintenance work on a ditch. The trial court directed the verdict for the defendant on the ground that the evidence failed to show a standard of care against which the defendant’s conduct might be judged. The Supreme Court of Ohio specifically rejected the contention that affirmative evidence of standards of care need be presented even when all of the factors involved in determining the appropriate standard of care in a particular case are not obvious to and readily understandable by a lay jury. Id. at 117-18, 224 N.E.2d 131.

The holding in Thompson clearly is consistent with other Ohio authority on the law of negligence. These cases have held that proof of a party’s conformance with custom or usage in a particular trade is not conclusive on the question of negligence, although it may be considered as evidence of whether the defendant exercised ordinary care. Hageman v. Signal L. P. Gas, Inc., 486 F.2d 479 (6th Cir. 1973); Davidson v. Toledo Home Tel. Co., 5 Ohio App. 237 (1915).

To require an affirmative showing of evidence establishing a standard of care for service representatives belies the tangential significance of evidence of custom and usage. Evidence of custom and usage going to the issue of the appropriate standard of care is not necessary to establish a prima facie case of negligence under Ohio law; thus the absence of affirmative evidence of an appropriate standard of care necessarily constitutes an insufficient basis for directing a verdict against the plaintiff in this case.

Ohio cases in the area of tort law have established that unless a standard of conduct has been created by legislative enactment or judicial decision the standard of care required is that of a reasonably prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. Eisenhuth v. Moneyhon, 161 Ohio St. 367, 119 N.E.2d 440 (1954).

This general standard of care is applicable to the conduct of Glen Ocheskey.

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Bluebook (online)
526 F.2d 1174, 21 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 385, 1975 U.S. App. LEXIS 11488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bahamas-agricultural-industries-ltd-v-riley-stoker-corp-ca6-1975.