Engle v. BT Industries AB

41 Pa. D. & C.4th 25, 1999 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 170
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedFebruary 16, 1999
Docketno. 248 S 1998
StatusPublished

This text of 41 Pa. D. & C.4th 25 (Engle v. BT Industries AB) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Engle v. BT Industries AB, 41 Pa. D. & C.4th 25, 1999 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 170 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1999).

Opinion

LEWIS, J.,

Before this court are the preliminary objections of defendants BT Industries AB (BT Sweden), BT Industries of America, BT Prime Mover Company Inc., Fortna Inc., Local Industrial Fork Truck Inc. and Lift Truck Service Inc. to plaintiff’s complaint. The facts and procedural history of this case are as follows:

This action was commenced by a writ of summons on January 20, 1998. Plaintiff filed her complaint on April 7, 1998, alleging negligence, breach of warranty and strict liability against several defendants. Plaintiff seeks recovery for injuries she sustained in a work-related forklift accident on January 21,1996. The forklift that plaintiff was operating was designed, engineered, manufactured, sold and placed into the stream of commerce by defendants BT Sweden, BT Industries of America Inc. arid BT Prime Mover Company Inc. (BT defendants). Defendant Fortna Inc. sold the truck to plaintiff’s employer. Defendants Lift Truck Service Inc. and Local Industrial Fork Truck Inc. a/k/a Lift Inc. were hired by plaintiff’s employer to provide service, maintenance and repair for the forklift. All named defendants have filed preliminary objections.

[27]*27I. DUTY TO RECALL/RETROFIT AND/OR WARN

BT defendants’ first preliminary objection is in the nature of a demurrer to certain paragraphs of the plaintiff’s complaint. Specifically, defendants’ preliminary objections address plaintiff’s allegations of a duty to recall and/or retrofit as outlined in paragraphs 37 and 38 of the complaint sounding in negligence as well as paragraphs 31 and 32 of the complaint sounding in strict liability. Defendants argue that these paragraphs should be stricken because Pennsylvania does not recognize any post-sale duty on the part of a manufacturer/distributor to warn or recall/retrofit allegedly defective products. For the reasons outlined below, this court agrees that no such duty exists under Pennsylvania law.

In support of this position, defendants rely on Lynch v. McStome & Lincoln Plaza Associates, 378 Pa. Super. 430, 548 A.2d ,1276 (1988), wherein a similar issue was addressed by our Superior Court. The court was asked to determine whether certain evidence offered by plaintiff was properly found inadmissible. In Lynch, the plaintiff had suffered severe injuries after falling from an escalator. The plaintiff sued the manufacturer of the escalator, claiming that the escalator’s brake system was unreasonably dangerous and that the manufacturer had a duty to refit the escalator with a safer brake system. The evidence that the plaintiff sought to admit consisted of reports of similar accidents on other escalators and the manufacturer’s present use of the safer brake system. The court began its analysis by addressing the plaintiff’s contention that the manufacturer should be held to the highest degree of care because it is a common carrier. The court disagreed [28]*28with this notion and held that the escalator manufacturer is not a common carrier and is therefore governed by the ordinary standard of reasonable care. The analysis continued in a discussion of whether the exercise of reasonable care includes a post-sale warning or retrofitting. Under the circumstances of that particular case, the court held that such a duty did not exist. The court stated:

“Given the posture of this case, therefore, the precise question presented for decision is this — in a negligence product liability case, where the defendant manufacturer exercises reasonable care in producing a product which functions properly until the time of the accident in question and does not retain any post-sale responsibility for or control over its product, but where it is proven that at the time of the accident the manufacturer knew or should have known of an alternative design, which may be safer, is the manufacturer negligent if it does not retrofit its already sold products, or at least notify the owners of the product of the new design?

“We are unaware of any Pennsylvania precedent that imposes such a broad duty on a manufacturer, nor do we think that the imposition of such a duty would be appropriate under established principles of negligence liability.” Lynch, 378 Pa. Super, at 440, 548 A.2d at 1281.

Plaintiffs counter this argument claiming that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recognizes a manufacturer’s obligation to recall or retrofit its product. In Walton v. Avco Corporation, 530 Pa. 568, 610 A.2d 454 (1992), the court was asked to determine whether a seller of a product could be held liable for physical harm to the user. In Walton, the survivors of a pilot killed in a helicopter accident sued the owner of the helicopter as well as the seller manufacturer, the manu[29]*29facturar of the engine installed in the helicopter and the company responsible for its service and maintenance. Avco, the manufacturer of the engine, discovered a defect in the engine and sent a notice to Hughes, the helicopter manufacturer and seller. The notice explained the defect and contained service instructions on how to fix it. However, Hughes never forwarded this notice to the owner or to the service company.

The Walton court indicated that the helicopter manufacturer could be held strictly liable for the defect when it failed to warn of the faulty engine design which was discovered and publicized after the sale of the helicopter. The court indicated:

“Hughes’ liability stems not only from having incorporated a defective part into its helicopter, but also from its subsequent, undisputed knowledge of the defect

“Having been informed of this defect, Hughes was required to warn its service centers and, more importantly, those who purchased the affected helicopters . . . .” Walton, 530 Pa. at 577, 610 A.2d at 459.

While it is true that liability may arise from a manufacturer’s failure to warn of a known defect in a product, and from further responsibility to take reasonable steps to remedy the deficiency, what is reasonable depends on the circumstances of the case. Even the Superior Court’s opinion in Walton, 383 Pa. Super. 518, 557 A.2d 372 (1989), was quick to point out that it was not endorsing an “absolute continuing duty, year after year,” for all manufacturers to warn of defective products. Walton, 383 Pa. Super, at 531, 557 A.2d at 379. The court recognized that a helicopter is not a household good commonly found in almost any home in the country such as a lawn mower or even a snow blower. Rather, [30]*30it is a specialized, unique and costly product for a highly select market. Id. Walton went on to indicate:

“Many issues regarding a manufacturer’s post-sale duty to warn are not implicated ... by our decision here. We leave for future cases the task of formulating the boundaries of a product manufacturer’s post-sale legal obligations. We are convinced, however, that boundaries must indeed be recognized.” Walton, 383 Pa. Super, at. 532, 557 A.2d at 380.

In the instant case, the allegedly defective product is a forklift, a product not as unique as a helicopter nor as prevalent as a lawn mower. In that regard, this court is persuaded by the learned U.S. District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo’s cogent and expansive discussion of this very issue in Habecker v. Clark Equipment Company, 797 F. Supp. 381 (M.D. Pa. 1992).

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Bluebook (online)
41 Pa. D. & C.4th 25, 1999 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/engle-v-bt-industries-ab-pactcompldauphi-1999.