Luman v. Highlands Ins. Co.

632 So. 2d 910, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 353, 1994 WL 51748
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 23, 1994
Docket25445-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 632 So. 2d 910 (Luman v. Highlands Ins. 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
Luman v. Highlands Ins. Co., 632 So. 2d 910, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 353, 1994 WL 51748 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

632 So.2d 910 (1994)

Jimmy D. LUMAN, et al., Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
HIGHLANDS INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 25445-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

February 23, 1994.

*912 Peters, Ward, Bright & Hennessy by J. Patrick Hennessy, Shreveport, Barham & Arceneaux by Mack E. Barham, Robert E. Arceneaux, Kathy S. Austin, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellant, Jimmy D. Luman.

Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts by Lawrence W. Pettiette, Jr., James W. Wyche, Shreveport, for defendant-appellee, B.F. Goodrich Co.

Before SEXTON, HIGHTOWER and VICTORY, JJ.

SEXTON, Judge.

Appellant, Jimmy Luman, was injured during the early morning hours of January 23, 1986 when a rubber hose exploded during an oil well "fishing" operation. Initially, three defendants were named and all except B.F. Goodrich, the manufacturer of the hose, were dismissed before the conclusion of the trial. The jury returned a verdict allocating 25 percent of the fault to Jimmy Luman and 75 percent to Crystal Oil Company, one of the settling defendants. Because B.F. Goodrich was not allocated any fault, judgment was entered dismissing appellant's claim at his costs. It is from this judgment that Luman now appeals asserting four assignments of error. We affirm.

FACTUAL HISTORY

Crystal Oil Company (Crystal) owned a well being reworked by a rig owned by Reliance Well Service (Reliance). Jimmy Luman was a Tri-State Oil Tool Industries (Tri-State) employee working as an oil field fishing tool operator on the rig. A bauxite-covered gauge ring and a junk basket became lodged in the well. To remedy the problem, the crew planned to pump a mixture of nitrogen, potassium chloride, and halco suds into the hole. When the process began, the crew was using Chicksan lines (2-inch flexible steel pipe) to pump the mixture into the well.

At that point, a decision was made to switch to rubber hose for the nitrogen injection process. The testimony is predictably in conflict regarding why this decision was made and who made it.

Appellant testified that Jim Tilley, the Crystal "company man" in charge of the job, ordered the switch because there was not enough Chicksan line at the site to complete the process and it would take approximately two hours or so to get more Chicksan from the Bossier office, whereas the rubber hose was already at the site. Tilley testified that appellant requested the switch to rubber hose because it was easier to handle than the Chicksan, although there was enough Chicksan at the site to continue using the Chicksan. Russell Jones, an employee of Haliburton Services, the nitrogen supplier, testified that Tilley ordered the switch because the process was moving too slowly using the Chicksan.

It appears from the jury's answers to interrogatories that the jury rejected Tilley's version. The record, particularly the action of Jones in clearing the rig, which we will discuss hereinafter, clearly supports such a determination.

The record reflects that hydraulic hoses are manufactured for installation into machines such as backhoes or tractors. They are designed to be permanent component parts of the particular machine into which they are installed. They are used to convey hydraulic fluid from a pressure source in the machine to a cylinder or motor in the same machine in order to cause motion.

The decision to use hydraulic hose was made despite the objections and fears expressed by Luman and Jones. Jones informed Tilley, who was himself a former employee of Haliburton, of the Haliburton policy against using rubber hoses to pump nitrogen. In response, Tilley ordered that the pressure exerted should not exceed 1700 pounds. Apparently, on January 22, 1986, appellant had ordered a power swivel and a 5000-pound rotary hose from the Tri-State Bossier office. Because the Bossier office did not have a power swivel, the Ruston office filled the whole order and sent the power swivel and the instant hose to the rig site. The actual hose sent to appellant was a *913 1125-pound hydraulic hose and was subsequently used to pump the nitrogen mixture into the well.

While standard procedure required members of the crew to assist in feeding the hose into the hole to prevent tangling or snagging of the hose, Jones ordered all the crew to stand back and away from the hose because of the danger involved. After working on the hole for 10 minutes, the pressure reached around 1750 to 1800 pounds and the hose exploded. The explosion caused the hose to whip around and crush Luman's right arm and throw him from the rig. Luman sustained a crushed right arm, comminuted fracture of the humerus, massive soft tissue loss, internal bleeding, a punctured lung, multiple rib fractures, a fractured scapula, and traumatic retinopathy of the right eye.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Initially, Aetna, Tri-State's workers compensation insurer, filed suit against Highlands Insurance Company (Crystal's liability insurer), B.F. Goodrich, and Haliburton. This suit alleged negligence on the part of Crystal and Haliburton and strict products liability on the part of Goodrich on grounds the hose was defective and unreasonably dangerous in normal use as designed and manufactured. Luman intervened, alleging the hose was defective as manufactured and designed and because of the failure to warn of an unreasonably dangerous condition inherent in the use of the hose. Aetna amended its petition to assert that the failure to label and to place a marking on the hose pertaining to the working pressure constituted negligence on Goodrich's part. Finally, Luman amended his intervention alleging that Goodrich failed to label with warnings or conditions under which it should be operated, particularly with regard to the working pressure. Before trial, Haliburton was dismissed as a defendant. During the trial, Luman settled with Highlands. The jury verdict allocated no fault to Goodrich. Judgment was entered in favor of Goodrich, from which Luman has appealed.

In his original brief, Luman asserts four assignments of error. He seeks a de novo review by this court of the jury's decision because of substantive errors asserted to have been committed by the trial court. These alleged errors consist of improper jury instructions and interrogatories in the verdict form that required the jury to consider the negligence of appellant's employer, Tri-State, in allocating fault.

DE NOVO REVIEW

Appellant asserts he is entitled to a de novo standard of review instead of the usual manifest error standard. In support of this assertion, appellant points to allegedly improper jury instructions and interrogatories made by the trial court on the verdict form.

Initially, we dispose of appellant's contention with respect to the interrogatories and verdict form. Appellant failed to make a contemporaneous objection to these interrogatories and the verdict form. Therefore, appellant failed to preserve any complaint he had with respect to these interrogatories that asked the jury to determine if appellant's employer, Tri-State, was at fault. Williams v. City of Alexandria, 376 So.2d 367 (La.App. 3d Cir.1979), writ denied, 378 So.2d 432 (La. 1979). Menzie Tile Company, Inc. v. Professional Centre, 594 So.2d 410 (La.App. 1st Cir.1991), writ denied, 600 So.2d 610 (La. 1992).

Appellant's assertions pertaining to allegedly improper jury instructions present a mixed and more difficult problem. Appellant complains about the trial court's failure to give proper jury instructions with respect to:

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632 So. 2d 910, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 353, 1994 WL 51748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luman-v-highlands-ins-co-lactapp-1994.