Daimlerchrysler Corp. v. Hillhouse Ex Rel. Hillhouse

161 S.W.3d 541, 2004 WL 2952873
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 23, 2005
Docket04-02-00548-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 161 S.W.3d 541 (Daimlerchrysler Corp. v. Hillhouse Ex Rel. Hillhouse) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daimlerchrysler Corp. v. Hillhouse Ex Rel. Hillhouse, 161 S.W.3d 541, 2004 WL 2952873 (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

ON MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION EN BANC

Opinion by

SANDEE BRYAN MARION, Justice.

In an opinion and judgment dated June 2, 2004, we reversed the trial court’s judgment in favor of the' appellees who were the plaintiffs below, and rendered a take-nothing judgment in favor of the appellant who was the defendant below. The appel-lees filed a motion for reconsideration en [546]*546bane, which a majority of this court granted. We withdraw our opinion and judgment of June 2, 2004, and issue this opinion and judgment in their place.

This is an appeal from a jury verdict in favor of appellees, Roger Hillhouse, Individually and As the Next Friend of Ashlee Hillhouse, A Minor; and Lise Hillhouse (collectively the “plaintiffs”), for personal injuries Ashlee suffered when an air bag deployed following an automobile collision. The accident occurred when the minivan in which Ashlee was a passenger collided with another vehicle. The minivan was manufactured by appellant, DaimlerChrys-ler Corporation. In the underlying case, the plaintiffs asserted design defect and marketing defect claims against Daimler-Chrysler. We affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.

BACKGROUND

At the time of the accident (August 1998), Ashlee was almost ten years old and a passenger in her family’s 1994 Plymouth Voyager minivan.1 The minivan had three rows of seats: the two front bucket seats, the middle-row seats, and seats in the rear of the van. At the time of the accident, Lise Hillhouse was the driver, Ashlee was seated in the front passenger seat, and her brother and sister were seated in the middle-row seats. When Lise rear-ended another vehicle, the deployment of the passenger-side air bag injured Ashlee. No one else in the minivan was hurt.

The plaintiffs sued DaimlerChrysler, alleging the minivan was defective in both its design and marketing. The jury returned an affirmative finding on both the design defect and marketing defect claims, found DaimlerChrysler negligent, and returned a $8.5 million verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. The jury also found Lise negligent and apportioned 70% responsibility to DaimlerChrysler and 30% to Lise. The trial court denied DaimlerChrysler’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, but reduced the award of future medical expenses from $500,000 to $400,000.

On appeal, DaimlerChrysler challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on both claims and the amount of damages awarded for Ashlee’s future medical expenses.

MARKETING DEFECT

A marketing defect occurs when a defendant knows or should know of a potential risk of harm presented by the product but markets it without adequately warning of the danger or providing instructions for safe use. Bristol-Myers Co. v. Gonzales, 561 S.W.2d 801, 804 (Tex. 1978); Sims v. Washex Mach. Corp., 932 S.W.2d 559, 562 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, no writ); USX Corp. v. Salinas, 818 S.W.2d 473, 482 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1991, writ denied). Thus, even a product safely designed and manufactured may be unreasonably dangerous as marketed because of a lack of adequate warnings or instructions for safe use. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. v. McGuire, 814 S.W.2d 385, 387 (Tex.1991). The focus is on whether the product’s risks were reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer at the time of manufacture, whether the lack of warnings or instructions created an unreasonable danger, and whether any warnings given were adequate. Brown Forman Corp. v. Bruñe, 893 S.W.2d 640, 644 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1994, writ denied).

A marketing defect cause of action consists of five elements: (1) a risk of [547]*547harm must exist that is inherent in the product or that may arise from the intended or reasonably anticipated use of the product; (2) the manufacturer must actually know or reasonably foresee the risk of harm at the time the product is marketed; (3) the product must possess a marketing defect; (4) the absence of the warning and/or instructions must render the product unreasonably dangerous to the ultimate user or consumer of the product; and (5) the failure to warn and/or instruct must constitute a causative nexus in the product user’s injury. Sims, 932 S.W.2d at 562; USX Corp., 818 S.W.2d at 482-83.

Here, the minivan contained two warning labels: a label placed in the vehicle when it was marketed in 1994 and another label distributed to all owners in 1997. Rather than placing the 1997 label on top of the 1994 label, the two labels were positioned side by side in the minivan. During oral argument, plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that the 1994 warning was inadequate. Counsel conceded that the 1997 warning on its own was not inadequate. The 1994 label read as follows:

BEING TOO CLOSE TO THE STEERING WHEEL OR INSTRUMENT PANEL DURING AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT COULD CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY. AIR BAGS NEED ROOM TO INFLATE. SIT BACK. COMFORTABLY EXTENDING YOUR ARMS TO REACH THE STEERING WHEEL OR INSTRUMENT PANEL.

Next to the 1994 label, was the 1997 warning label, which read as follows:

WARNING
DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY CAN OCCUR
• CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER CAN BE KILLED BY THE AIR BAG
• THE BACK SEAT IS THE SAFEST PLACE FOR CHILDREN
• NEVER PUT A REAR-FACING CHILD SEAT IN THE FRONT
• SIT AS FAR BACK AS POSSIBLE FROM THE AIR BAG
• ALWAYS USE SEAT BELTS AND CHILD RESTRAINTS

A picture of a rearward-facing child seat with a line drawn through it appeared to the left of the bullet points.

Foreseeability

In its first issue on appeal, Daim-lerChrysler asserts the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support a finding that a risk of harm to “properly belted and seated children” was reasonably foreseeable when the minivan was marketed in 1994.

A manufacturer is not liable for a failure to warn of dangers that were unforeseeable at the time the product was marketed. USX Corp., 818 S.W.2d at 483. Therefore, the claimant must show that the manufacturer knew or should have known of the risks at the time of marketing. Id. Foreseeability is measured in terms of those dangers that are reasonable to anticipate, and the product supplier is held to the status of an expert and is assumed to possess knowledge of the latest scientific advances. USX Coup., 818 S.W.2d at 484. A plaintiff may prove knowledge or foreseeability of danger in several ways, including: (1) evidence of similar accidents or other complaints; (2) presentation of post-accident warnings; (3) presentation of recall letters; (4) evidence of governmental standards; (5) expert testimony, lay testimony, or documentary evidence to show information about risks available to defendant; and (6) rebanee on web-established presumptions. Sims, 932 S.W.2d at 562; USX Corp., 818 S.W.2d at 484.

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161 S.W.3d 541, 2004 WL 2952873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daimlerchrysler-corp-v-hillhouse-ex-rel-hillhouse-texapp-2005.