Goins v. Galion Mfg. Co.

626 So. 2d 1200, 1993 WL 427276
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 20, 1993
Docket92-1124
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 626 So. 2d 1200 (Goins v. Galion Mfg. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goins v. Galion Mfg. Co., 626 So. 2d 1200, 1993 WL 427276 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

626 So.2d 1200 (1993)

Vernon GOINS, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
GALION MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A DIVISION OF DRESSER INDUSTRIES, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 92-1124.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 20, 1993.
Writ Denied January 28, 1994.

*1202 Hunter William Lundy, Milo Addison Nickel Jr., Lake Charles, for Vernon Goins.

Robert E. Landry, John Michael Veron, Lake Charles, for Galion, Mfg.

John E. Cox, Rebecca Kittok Wisbar, Baton Rouge, James Clarence Lopez, Opelousas, for Prairie Const. Co.

Mark Louis Riley, Lafayette, for AETNA Cas. & Sur.

Joseph Bradley Ortego, Eunice, John Claiborne Young, Baton Rouge, for State of Louisiana, DOTD.

Cyd Sheree Page, Lafayette, for American Cas. Ins. Co.

Before DOUCET, KNOLL and COOKS, JJ.

FACTS

COOKS, Judge.

Vernon Goins was injured while working on a highway construction project. Goins suffered severe injuries when a pneumatic roller weighing 22,000 pounds rolled over him. Goins sued the general contractor (Prairie Construction Company) and its insurer (American Casualty Company), the manufacturer of the pneumatic roller (Galion Manufacturing subsequently acquired by Dresser Industries) and its insurer (Insurance Company of North America), and the State of Louisiana (Department of Transportation and Development). Prairie Construction Company secured a contract with the State of Louisiana to perform work on a highway project. The contract included asphalt paving construction. The asphalt work was subcontracted to James Corporation, Goins' employer at the time of the accident and the owner of the pneumatic tire roller. After a jury trial, liability was assessed as follows:

Prairie Construction Company                75%
James Corporation of Opelousas              14%
Dresser Industries (Galion Manufacturing)   10%
Vernon Goins                                 1%
Department of Transportation and             0%
Development, State of Louisiana

Vernon Goins was awarded damages in the amount of $650,000.00. Pamela Goins, wife of Vernon, was awarded damages in the amount of $100,000.00. Prairie Construction Company, Dresser Industries (Galion Manufacturing), and their respective insurers filed this appeal. Appellees answered the appeal seeking affirmance of the lower court's judgment and an increase in the award of damages to Vernon Goins. The intervenor, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company (the Worker's Compensation carrier for James Corporation) also answered the appeal adopting Vernon Goins' arguments in brief in favor of the judgment's affirmance; and additionally requesting that this court recognize the award related to the payments of compensation benefits as "continuing" after trial.

Following oral argument, Prairie Construction Company, its insurer (American Casualty Insurance Company) and appellees resolved the pending claims and contentions existing between them to their mutual satisfaction. They filed a Motion for Dismissal with this court which was granted on September 8, 1993.

Accordingly, we turn our focus to the remaining issues on appeal raised by Dresser Industries (Galion Manufacturing), its insurer (Insurance Company of North America), and the intervenor (Aetna Casualty and Surety Company). In addition to attacking certain evidentiary rulings by the trial judge, Dresser Industries and its insurer essentially urge "as a matter of law," the manufacturer did not breach a legal duty owed to Vernon Goins and the accident was not caused by any acts or omissions of the manufacturer. Because we agree the manufacturer did not breach a legal duty owed to Vernon Goins which contributed to his unfortunate accident, the judgment is reversed in part to rescind the finding of liability and award against Dresser Industries and its insurer. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed with an amendment to provide the award made to Aetna Casualty and Surety Company shall include payment of benefits paid from rendition of judgment to its finality.

PERTINENT FACTS

The pneumatic tire roller was purchased by Prairie Construction Company in 1970. *1203 In its original state, the roller was equipped with an optional nylon or plastic scraping device which automatically removed built-up asphalt on the machine's tires. This device subsequently was removed from the machine and James Corporation (the later owner) replaced it with a two inch by six inch wooden board fastened by two steel brackets attached to the wheels of the machine. See Appendix A. As originally designed, the machine was not equipped to accommodate passengers, other than the driver. See Appendix B. To facilitate the scraping maneuver after placement of the board, workers on occasion were required to apply pressure to the board sufficient to cause it to bend and touch the tires' surface scraping away unwanted asphalt. Goins mounted the roller on the date of the accident by stepping on a foot pedal and holding a handbar located on the rear of the machine, ultimately positioning one foot on the roller's chassis and the other on the board. As he attempted to apply pressure to the board by distributing his weight, it broke. Goins lost his balance falling on the ground near the roller's tires, which were moving backwards. Goins sustained severe crushing injuries when the machine eventually rolled over him.

Appellees presented two theories before the lower court which they now argue supported the jury's liability finding against the manufacturer. First, they suggest the facts demonstrate the machine was designed to entice "operators and/or passengers" to place themselves in a position of peril because located on its rear was a handbar and a foot step. The presence of these items, contend appellees, encouraged workers such as Goins to stand on the rear chassis. As a consequence, they urge the jury could have reasonably concluded the machine's design was defective because there was no "guard rail" or other protective device to restrain such a worker from foreseeably falling and being run over by the machine's tires. This eventuality was foreseeable because, as circuitously argued by appellees, the manufacturer should have anticipated, in actual use, workers might mount the machine on the rear; and, stand on a scraper, modified or replaced in later years by the owner, i.e. James Construction Company, to facilitate the removal of built-up asphalt accumulating on the rear tires. Second, they asserted the manufacturer failed to provide any warning or other information advising that the handbar and foot step were designed to aid only the driver in mounting the machine and that the machine was not designed for other passengers such as Goins.

LEGAL PRECEPTS

At the time of this accident, to prevail in a products liability case, appellees were required to prove that (1) the product's alleged defective condition existed at the time it left the control of the manufacturer or supplier; (2) the condition made the product unreasonably dangerous in normal use; and (3) the injury or damage resulted from the condition of the product. They were not required to prove negligence by the maker in its manufacture or processing because the manufacturer then was liable even though it exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of its product. Bell v. Jet Wheel Blast, 462 So.2d 166 (La.1985); Hebert v. Brazzel, 403 So.2d 1242 (La.1981); Hunt v. City Stores, 387 So.2d 585 (La.1980); Chappuis v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 358 So.2d 926 (La.1978); Weber v. Fidelity Casualty Insurance Co. of New York,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
626 So. 2d 1200, 1993 WL 427276, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goins-v-galion-mfg-co-lactapp-1993.