FLETCHER v. WATER APPLICATIONS DISTRIBUTION GROUP, INC. Et Al.

801 S.E.2d 336, 341 Ga. App. 598, 2017 WL 2463922, 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 253

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 7, 2017
• Docket: A15A0527
• Status: Published

Opinion

Ellington, Presiding Judge.

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed in part and reversed in part our decision in this case as it concerned CertainTeed Corporation, 1 holding that, “[w]hile we conclude that CertainTeed owed no duty to warn [Marcella] Fletcher of the possible hazards of asbestos dust from its products, the Court of Appeals correctly reversed the trial court’s judgment with respect to Fletcher’s defective design claim.” CertainTeed Corp. v. Fletcher, 300 Ga. 327, 327-328 (794 SE2d 641) (2016). Accordingly, our ruling with respect to CertainTeed is vacated and the judgment of the Supreme Court is made the judgment of this Court.

Decided June 7, 2017. Buck Law Firm, Robert C. Buck, Juliana Y. Sleeper, for appellant. Schiff Hardin, Leah Ward Sears; Hawkins, Parnell, Thackston & Young, E. Elaine Shofner, David C. Marshall; Demahy, Labrador, Drake, Victor & Cabeza, Michael J. Crist, for appellees.

Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Barnes, P. J., Dillard, P. J., McFadden, P J., Ray, McMillian, and Reese, JJ., concur.

1 In Fletcher v. Water Applications Distrib. Group, 333 Ga. App. 693 (773 SE2d 859) (2015), we held that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the manufacturer, CertainTeed, on Fletcher’s design defect and negligent failure-to-warn claims. However, we affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the distributor, Water Applications Distribution Group, Inc., on Fletcher’s negligent failure-to-warn claim, holding that a seller or a distributor does not have a continuing duty to warn. Fletcher sought a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Georgia challenging our opinion with respect to the distributor, which the Court denied.