Guerra v. Easco Aluminum Corp.

12 Mass. L. Rptr. 490
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedNovember 20, 2000
DocketNo. 962657
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 490 (Guerra v. Easco Aluminum Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guerra v. Easco Aluminum Corp., 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 490 (Mass. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

Botsford, J.

This matter is before the court on motions for summary judgment of the defendants Easco Aluminum Corp. (“Easco”), Georgia Pacific Corporation and Butler Paper Co. (“Butler”).3 The plaintiff Estuardo Guerra alleges that the defendants supplied his employer, American Window Corp. (“American”), with defective aluminum strapping. The strapping broke, causing a large bundle of aluminum to fall on Guerra, an event which resulted in substantial injuries to him. Guerra asserts claims of (1) negligence; (2) [491]*491breach of the implied warranty of merchantability; (3) breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose; and (4) violation of G.L.c. 93A. Guerra’s wife, Isis, asserts a separate claim for loss of consortium. All defendants have moved for summary judgment on all counts. For the following reasons, the defendants’ motions are ALLOWED in part and DENIED in part.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are undisputed for the purposes of this motion. On May 27, 1993, Guerra was working at American Window helping to guide aluminum bundles that were being lifted by means of a boom, chain, and hook assembly with a forklift. On üiat day, Carlos Mendez, Guerra’s coworker, affixed two hooks on two separate aluminum straps that bound a particular bundle of aluminum weighing between 500 and 1000 pounds. Mendez then placed a boom mechanism, to which the chains and hooks were attached, across the forks of a forklift, and then proceeded to lift the bundle. Guerra was in the vicinity of the bundle when one of the aluminum straps broke, and consequently the bundle fell on Guerra causing substantial injuries.4

The broken aluminum strap and associated fastening seals at the center of this case were manufactured by Acme Packaging Corp. (“Acme”), which is not a party. Although the specific strap that broke was not recovered after the accident, the parties agree that it was of the type that Acme sold to Butler, a reseller and distributor of office supplies at the time of the accident and a corporate subsidiary of Georgia Pacific. Butler supplied this same type of strap to Easco, which used them to assemble and package bundles of aluminum. Easco sold a bundle of aluminum with Acme straps and associated fastening of the type involved in the accident to American Window.

It appears that in its product brochure, Acme had warned purchasers of its products, including Butler, not to use such strapping and fasteners for lifting purposes.5 However, no such warning ever reached either Easco or American Window.

DISCUSSION

I conclude that there are substantial issues of disputed material facts that preclude summary judgment on all counts except on the claim for the breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.

Negligence (Count I)

Guerra alleges both negligent product design and negligent failure to warn. There is a general duty to design products with reasonable care to protect against foreseeable risks to foreseeable users. Uloth v. City Tank Corp., 376 Mass. 874, 878 (1978); Back v. Wickes, 375 Mass. 633, 640 (1978). Whether a risk is one that was reasonably foreseeable and should have been either warned against or made safe by design is almost always a question for the trier of fact. See Fahey v. Rockwell Graphic Co., 20 Mass.App.Ct. 642, 649 n. 11 (1985). A supplier of goods has a duty to make safe or warn foreseeable users of risks associated with such goods if the seller knows or has reason to know of such risks. G.L.c. 106, §2-318; Restatement (Second) of Torts, §§388-91 (1957).

The defendants argue that they are relieved of liability for negligence here because they are the suppliers of a non-defective component part. See Mitchell v. Sky Climber, Inc., 396 Mass. 629, 631 (1986); Murray v. Goodrich Engineering Corp., Inc., 30 Mass.App.Ct. 918 (1991). There is no merit to this argument. The limitation on legal duty for suppliers of component parts which is discussed in the Mitchell and Murray cases is not applicable here. First, unlike the products in either Mitchell (lift motors linked to scaffolding equipment) or Murray (oven as part of integrated paper manufacturing system), the strapping here cannot be logically seen as a "component” part of another product. Rather, it is a separate product from the aluminum bundle that it surrounds; a product does not qualify as a component of something else simply by its presence — by the fact that it touches the other thing. Second, even if one were to assume for argument that the strapping and fastening could be viewed as a “component part,” there is a dispute of fact as to whether this product was inherently defective, in contrast with the two cited cases. In particular, Guerra has offered proposed expert testimony that would tend to show there are other ways to design the strapping without a “notched seal” so that it would be safer in supporting weight.6

To the extent that the negligence count alleges a breach of a duty to warn, the defendants argue there is no duty to warn of open and obvious dangers, including the danger posed by using the strapping here to hoist aluminum bales. The defendants’ reliance on Bavuso v. Caterpillar Industrial, Inc., 408 Mass. 694, 699 (1990), is misplaced. Although Bavuso reinforces the rule that there is no duty to warn “where the danger presented by a given product is obvious,” id. (quotation omitted), that case makes clear that the rationale behind such a rule is that a warning would not reduce the likelihood of injury. See id. citing Colter v. Barber-Greene Co., 403 Mass. 50, 59 (1988); Slate v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 400 Mass. 378, 382 (1987); Maldonado v. Thomson Nat’l Press Co., 16 Mass.App.Ct. 911, 912-13 (1983). In Bavuso, the court held that it was error to deny the defendant manufacturer’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict where the “defect” alleged by the plaintiff was a failure to warn of the danger of lifting a bale of cardboard on a forklift over the head of the forklift operator, where the overhead protection had been removed from the forklift. Bavuso, 408 Mass. at 695. Such danger, the court concluded, was open and obvious as a matter of law. Id. at 702. Significant in the court's reasoning was the fact that the plaintiff [492]*492forklift operator was experienced, “no less knowledgeable than the defendant about the danger inherent in using the forklift as he did.” Id. at 701-02.

Unlike Bavuso, the danger posed by using the strapping here was not clearly open and obvious to preclude recovery on this count as a matter of law. Not only is the danger less inherently apparent, but there was also no modification of safety features that would raise the level of perceptibility of any danger posed by the strapping. Furthermore, it is at best disputed as to what level of experience Guerra had in guiding the aluminum bales, in contrast to the plaintiff in Bavuso whose prior experience with forklifts played a substantial role in the court’s determination. Accordingly, I conclude that one cannot say as matter of law Guerra’s claim is barred because the danger was open and obvious.

Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability (Count II)

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12 Mass. L. Rptr. 490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guerra-v-easco-aluminum-corp-masssuperct-2000.