Iowa Electric Light & Power Co. v. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

360 F. Supp. 25, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13174
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedJune 14, 1973
DocketCiv. 9-2472-C-2
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 360 F. Supp. 25 (Iowa Electric Light & Power Co. v. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Iowa Electric Light & Power Co. v. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., 360 F. Supp. 25, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13174 (S.D. Iowa 1973).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HANSON, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. This is a products liability case. Plaintiff’s complaint is in six counts; Count I is on implied warranty, Count II is on express warranty; Count III is for breach of contract; Count IV pleads strict liability in tort; Count V pleads negligence on the basis of res ipsa loquitur; and Count VI, an amendment, adds the allegation of willfullness to each of the preceding Counts. By agreement of the parties, the allegations of Count VI are not at issue in this motion, and any motion with respect to Count VI will be determined at a later time.

The controversy centers around a transformer which was manufactured by Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., the defendant herein, for Iowa Electric Light and Power Co., the plaintiff herein, in 1958.

The pertinent uncontroverted facts in this lawsuit are as follows:

On June 24, 1958, defendant sent to plaintiff a proposal, Proposal DAV— 2615, for sale and delivery of the transformer central to this action. Included within that proposal were the following conditions of sale:

“Warranty and Tests.
Company warrants that the equipment will be of the kind and quality described herein and free of defects in *27 workmanship and material. No other warranty, except of title, shall be implied, and any statutory warranties shall be deemed waived. This warranty shall extend for one year from date of shipment; but if equipment is installed by the Company or the work of installation is supervised by a Company representative, the warranty shall run for one year from date of completion of installation, or eighteen (18) months from date of shipment, whichever occurs first.
Company shall be notified of and may witness any acceptance tests that may be specified or agreed upon. Such tests shall be conducted within the warranty period unless otherwise agreed on.
Liability.
If any failure to comply with the warranty appears within the time limited therein and the Purchaser promptly notifies Company, Company shall be liable, and shall have the right to remedy any such failure by, at Company’s option, adjustment, or repair, or replacement f. o. b. shipping point of any affected part of the equipment.
Company’s liability to purchaser whether in contract or in tort arising out of warranties, representations, instructions, or defects from any cause, shall be limited to correcting the equipment as aforesaid.
* * * •* * *
General.
Company shall not in any event be liable for indirect, special, consequential or liquidated damages or penalties.”

On July 3, 1958, plaintiff accepted the proposal by mailing to defendant plaintiff’s Purchase Order No. 25091, ordering the equipment described in the proposal “[a] 11 in accordance with Proposal DAV-2615 dated June 24, 1958 based on Skeleton Specifications.”

On July 7, 1958, defendant sent to plaintiff its Order of Acceptance in which the conditions of sale above described were again set out.

The transformer had a failure on February 22, 1965, after being in service 6 years. Plaintiff requested defendant to repair the transformer at plaintiff’s expense. Defendant accepted this request and incorporated in the acceptance the same conditions as have been heretofore set out. Plaintiff paid the defendant the agreed price for the repairs.

The transformer again failed on January 27, 1968. After this occurrence, plaintiff again requested defendant to furnish materials and certain services for repair of the transformer. Defendant complied, and plaintiff paid for the same.

The defendant, in its motion, urges that the contract between the parties be enforced in accordance with the “conditions of sale.” The plaintiff contends that the disclaimers in the contracts do not preclude recovery.

I. Strict Liability in Tort.

With respect to plaintiff’s Count IV, sounding in strict liability in tort, the defendant contends (1) that the disclaimers and limitations on damages found in the contracts preclude recovery on this theory, and (2) that the theory of strict liability does not encompass a prayer for commercial loss damages.

The Supreme Court of Iowa has approved recovery, in certain instances, under the tort theory of strict liability fqr defective products, adopting the principles found in Restatement, Second, Torts, Section 402A. Hawkeye Security Insurance Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 174 N. W.2d 672, 684 (Iowa 1970) [hereinafter Hawkeye I]. Section 402A allows recovery under strict liability in tort for physical harm to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, which is caused by a defective product.

The question of whether plaintiff waived his cause of action sounding in strict liability in tort because of disclaimers in the contracts must be resolved against the defendant. In Hawk-eye Insurance Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 199 N.W.2d 373, 381 (Iowa 1972) [here *28 inafter Hawkeye II], the court said: “Further, strict liability in tort is not based on the Uniform Commercial Code and is not subject to disclaimer.” Comment (m) to Section 402A of Restatement, Second, Torts, states:

The rule stated in this Section is not governed by the provisions of the Uniform Sales Act, or those of the Uniform Commercial Code, as to warranties; and it is not affected by limitations on the scope and content of warranties, or by limitation to “buyer” and “seller” in those statutes. Nor is the consumer required to give notice to the seller of his injury within a reasonable time after it occurs, as is provided by the Uniform Act. The consumer’s cause of action does not depend upon the validity of his contract with the person from whom he acquires the product and it is not affected by any disclaimer or other agreement, whether it be between the seller and his immediate buyer, or attached to and accompanying the product into the consumer’s hands. In short, ’’warranty” must be given a new and different meaning if it is used in connection with this Section. It is much simpler to regard the liability here stated as merely one of strict liability in tort.

Defendant states many policy reasons in support of its position on disclaimer of strict liability in tort. The Court feels, however, that the adoption of such a rule of law would merely again confuse the area of law that Section 402A liability was intended to make simpler.

On the other hand, the Court concludes .that defendant’s argument with respect to the scope of damages under Section 402A is a good one.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
360 F. Supp. 25, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/iowa-electric-light-power-co-v-allis-chalmers-manufacturing-co-iasd-1973.