Figgie International, Inc., Snorkel-Economy Division v. Tognocchi

624 A.2d 1285, 96 Md. App. 228, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 90
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMay 27, 1993
Docket857, September Term, 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 624 A.2d 1285 (Figgie International, Inc., Snorkel-Economy Division v. Tognocchi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Figgie International, Inc., Snorkel-Economy Division v. Tognocchi, 624 A.2d 1285, 96 Md. App. 228, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 90 (Md. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

FISCHER, Judge.

This case stems from the death of Ronald Tognocchi, a safety manager with AAI Corporation. Mr. Tognocchi was killed while operating a UNO-33E manlift manufactured by Figgie International, Inc., Snorkel-Economy Division (Snorkel). Following Mr. Tognocchi’s death, his wife, Virginia Tognocchi, and his son, Scott C. Tognocchi, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against Snorkel and against the lessor of the manlift.1 The complaint contained claims for wrongful death on behalf of Mrs. Tognocchi as surviving spouse and on behalf of the Tognocchi’s son and their minor daughter, Dawn. The complaint also contained personal representative’s survival claims on behalf of Mr. Tognocchi’s estate.

The matter proceeded to trial before a jury, and at the end of the plaintiff’s case, the court granted Snorkel’s motion for judgment on the issue of punitive damages. At the conclusion of all the evidence, Snorkel argued that it was entitled to judgment since the uncontradicted evidence established, as a matter of law, that Mr. Tognocchi had assumed the risk of his injury. Snorkel also raised the issue of its duty to warn. The court denied Snorkel’s motion, and submitted the case to the jury.

On October 18, 1991, the jury returned a special verdict in which it awarded damages for economic loss of $704,000 to Mrs. Tognocchi, $278,000 to her minor daughter, and $85,000 to her son. With regard to noneconomic damages, the jury [234]*234awarded $675,000 to Mrs. Tognocchi and $650,000 to her daughter. Mrs. Tognocchi was also awarded $250,000 for loss of household services and $12,000 for counseling expenses. So, too, her daughter was awarded $8,000 for counseling expenses. On the survival claim, the jury awarded $125,000 to Mr. Tognocchi’s estate for his pain and suffering. For Mr. Tognocchi’s funeral expenses, the jury awarded $2,000.

Snorkel subsequently filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a motion to conform the verdict to § 11-108 of the Md.Cts. & Jud.Proc.Code Ann. On March 9, 1992, the court denied the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and granted the motion to reduce the damages award in accord with § 11-108. On March 19, 1992, the court entered final judgment reducing Mrs. Tognocchi’s award for noneconomic damages from $675,000 to $178,000 and similarly reducing Dawn’s award for noneconomic damages from $650,-000 to $171,000.2 The $125,000 awarded to the estate for Mr. Tognocchi’s pain and suffering was unchanged. On April 9, 1992, Snorkel filed its appeal, and on April 13, 1992, the Tognocchis filed their cross-appeal.

Snorkel presents the following questions for us to decide:

1. Did Appellees’ decedent assume the risk of injury, as a matter of law, when he, knowing that a prior operator of a manlift had been seriously injured, voluntarily drove the same manlift down the same slope, in the same configuration and in the same manner as the prior operator while attempting, before a video camera, to investigate or illustrate the prior accident?
2. Did the decedent’s conduct, in using the manlift to ascertain or illustrate how the previous accident happened, constitute product misuse as a matter of law?
3. Did the manufacturer of the manlift owe [the] decedent a duty to warn him that the vehicle had a dangerous [235]*235propensity, when he already knew that it had caused serious injury to a prior operator?
A. Did the trial judge err in refusing to grant the manufacturer’s motions for judgment and j.rno.v. as to its alleged failure to warn?
B. Did the trial judge err in refusing to instruct the jury that a manufacturer need not warn users of known dangers?
4. Did the trial judge err in admitting evidence of subsequent remedial measures taken by the manufacturer of a manlift for the purpose of establishing an alleged negligent failure to warn of a product defect and alleged manufacturer culpability, when the manufacturer did not contest feasibility?

The Tognocehis’ cross-appeal presents several other questions for us to resolve:

1. Was Snorkel’s Notice of Appeal filed more than thirty days after the entry of final judgment?
2. Did the legislature intend to exclude the cap from wrongful death actions?
3. Was the trial court correct in applying a separate cap to the claim by the estate as opposed to the wrongful death claimants?
4. Did the trial court err in applying an aggregate cap to Virginia and Dawn Tognocchi?
5. Does an aggregate cap violate the equal protection clause and right to trial by jury of the United States Constitution and Maryland Declaration of Rights?
6. Did the trial court err in refusing to submit the issue of punitive damages to the jury?

Central to the facts of this case is the UNO-33E manufactured by Snorkel. The UNO-33E is a “cherry-picker” type manlift that has a basket attached to the end of a boom, and the operator controls -the machine while standing in the basket. The basket is located over a wheel base that rotates 180 degrees. This allows the operator to drive the manlift in the “forward” configuration, with the basket centered over the [236]*236drive wheels, or in the “reverse” configuration, with the basket centered over the steer wheels.

On June 19, 1989, AAI employee Roy Flaharty drove the lift, in the reverse configuration, down a slope. As he did so, the lift accelerated and then stopped suddenly. At that point, the rear wheels of the vehicle rose into the air and Flaharty was thrown upward and forward in the basket. Flaharty was seriously injured as a consequence.

AAI then assigned Mr. Tognocchi, its Assistant Safety Director, to investigate the Flaharty accident. Mr. Tognocchi was an engineer with more than twenty years of experience in industrial safety. During the course of the investigation, Mr. Tognocchi consulted with Gary Wampler, a representative of Snorkel. Wampler had come to AAI to test the unit that had been driven by Flaharty. On June 20, 1989, with Tognocchi and several others present, Wampler drove the unit up and down the slope in both the forward and reverse configurations without incident. It was then collectively decided that the Flaharty accident was the result of operator error.

Notwithstanding this conclusion, Tognocchi maintained the vehicle in a red-tagged status and did not allow it to be returned to service. On June 23, 1989, while in the presence of Alfred Young, in-house counsel for AAI, Mr. Tognocchi drove the manlift. Young videotaped the events as Mr. Tognocchi drove the manlift down the slope in the forward configuration and then in the reverse configuration. Mr. Tognocchi drove the lift in the reverse configuration only a short distance when the lift suddenly pitched forward. The rear wheels came several feet off the ground, and Mr. Tognocchi was catapulted against the controls. He died as a result of his injuries.

I. Timeliness of Appeal

Preliminarily, the Tognocchis argue that Snorkel did not file its notice of appeal within thirty days of the entry of judgment. See Md.Rule 8-202.

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Figgie International, Inc., Snorkel-Economy Division v. Tognocchi
624 A.2d 1285 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
624 A.2d 1285, 96 Md. App. 228, 1993 Md. App. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/figgie-international-inc-snorkel-economy-division-v-tognocchi-mdctspecapp-1993.