Carlisto v. General Motors Corp.

870 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 335, 1994 WL 57302
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 1, 1994
DocketNo. WD 48106
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 870 S.W.2d 505 (Carlisto v. General Motors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carlisto v. General Motors Corp., 870 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 335, 1994 WL 57302 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

FENNER, Judge.

Appellants, John C. Carlisto, Jr. and Thelma R. Carlisto, appeal the order of summary judgment entered in favor of respondent, General Motors Corporation (GM). The underlying action is based on injuries that John sustained while driving a motor home that was custom built on a chassis manufactured by GM.1 The motor home had a problem with the fuel system that resulted in fuel starvation, and John’s injuries stemmed from having to pump the accelerator continuously to keep the engine from stalling.

Appellants filed a petition for damages on February 28, 1991, naming as defendants GM, Motor Homes, Inc., and Molle Chevrolet, Inc.2 In their petition, appellants alleged that on December 19, 1988, Motor Homes, Inc. sold a 1989 Space Craft Motor Home to appellants which was custom manufactured by Motor Homes, Inc. in Concordia, Missouri on a Chevrolet chassis. Chevrolet is a division of GM. GM sold the Chevrolet chassis (otherwise known as the “P” chassis) to Molle Chevrolet, Inc. who, in turn, sold the chassis to Motor Homes, Inc. Although Motor Homes, Inc. purchased the chassis from Molle Chevrolet, Inc., it was shipped directly from GM to Motor Homes, Inc. Motor Homes, Inc., using the Chevrolet (GM) chassis, assembled the motor home in question and later sold it to appellants. The chassis in question is an incomplete vehicle chassis which is shipped in an unassembled state to be assembled by a body builder for use as a commercial unit, small mini-bus, or motor home.

Appellants received the motor home on December 20, 1988 in Arizona. Appellants alleged that on April 24, 1989, they began driving from Arizona to Concordia, Missouri to have some warranty work done on the motor home. En route, while still in Arizona, appellants encountered fuel problems which made the vehicle difficult to operate. Specifically, John had to pump the accelerator with his foot continuously to keep the engine running. Appellants took the vehicle in for repairs, but the problem continued as they drove on through New Mexico, Kansas, and until they reached Concordia, Missouri. They took the vehicle in for more repairs while en route to Missouri. Before reaching Wichita, Kansas, John developed a large blister on his foot for which he sought medical attention. He alleged that it was caused by his having to pump the accelerator continuously from Arizona to Concordia, Missouri.

Appellants alleged that the problems in the engine were caused by the fact that the motor home did not have a fuel relay switch. They alleged that such fuel relay switch was required by the design of the motor home. Further, they alleged that the failure of the motor home to have a fuel relay switch made it necessary that John continuously pump the accelerator of the motor home, and caused the blister to form on his foot.

Appellants alleged that GM designed, manufactured, and sold the engine and chassis for the motor home and placed them in the stream of commerce where they were subsequently incorporated into the motor home that appellants purchased. Motor Homes, Inc. installed the engine and chassis into the motor home body. Appellants alleged that the “motor home was in a defective condition, unreasonably dangerous, when put to a reasonably foreseeable use at the time that it was sold and left possession of Defendants in that it had no fuel relay switch which necessitated Plaintiff, John C. Carlisto, Jr., to continuously pump the accelerator on said motor home, thereby causing injury to his foot.”3

[508]*508On June 8, 1992, GM filed a motion for summary judgment. In its motion, GM contended that it was entitled to summary judgment on appellants’ strict liability claim because no defective condition existed at the time GM sold the chassis, and that Missouri law provides that a component parts manufacturer cannot be strictly liable for a defect introduced by a third party completing the assembly process. GM contended that appellants’ only expert witness, Richard Dik-lich, had no opinion as to (1) whether the fuel relay switch was supplied with the engine and chassis by GM, and (2) whether the engine and chassis, and any related component parts, were in a defective condition and unreasonably dangerous when sold to Molle Chevrolet. GM contended that the alleged vehicle defects specified by Mr. Diklich relate to the electronic fuel system on the subject vehicle and the failure to connect or properly wire the fuel relay switch. GM stated that there is no evidence that GM failed to supply the fuel relay switch when the engine and chassis were sold to Molle Chevrolet. Finally, GM contended that the evidence indicates that the fuel relay switch was shipped by GM, the fuel relay switch was not defective in any manner when it left GM (and there are no allegations that the fuel relay switch, itself, was defective), and any alleged defect was introduced by the assembler (Motor Homes, Inc.) and its failure to assemble the vehicle properly. GM argued that it was entitled to summary judgment because it could not be liable as a component parts manufacturer where the alleged defect was created by alteration of the product by a third person.

On December 2, 1992, the trial court entered an order granting GM’s motion for summary judgment.4 On June 30, 1993, appellants filed a Motion to Reconsider Entry of Partial Summary Judgment for GM, pursuant to Rule 74.01(b). Appellants’ motion was overruled on July 12, 1993. This appeal followed.

On appeal, appellants argue that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of GM. Appellants contend that although GM claimed that it was not responsible for the failure to install the fuel relay switch, the deposition testimony of John May, an employee at Motor Homes, Inc., demonstrates that there is a question of fact as to whether GM shipped the switch with the chassis in question. Appellants argue that the mere fact that the chassis was a component part does not preclude liability by GM.5

When considering appeals from summary judgments, we will review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. ITT Commercial Finance Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). Facts set forth by affidavit or otherwise in support of a party’s motion are taken as true unless contradicted by the non-moving party’s response to the summary judgment motion. Id. The non-movant is accorded the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the record. Id.

Our review is essentially de novo. Id. The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law, and we need not defer to the trial court’s order granting summary judgment. Id. As the court in ITT Commercial Finance stated:

The burden on a summary judgment mov-ant is to show a right to judgment flowing from facts about which there is no genuine dispute. Summary judgment tests simply for the existence, not the extent, of these genuine disputes. Therefore, where the trial court, in order to grant summary judgment, must overlook material in the record that raises a genuine dispute as to the facts underlying the movant’s right to judgment, summary judgment is not proper.

Id. at 378. The key to summary judgment is the undisputed right to judgment as a matter [509]*509of law, not simply the absence of a fact question.

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Bluebook (online)
870 S.W.2d 505, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 335, 1994 WL 57302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carlisto-v-general-motors-corp-moctapp-1994.