Mathis v. Harrell Company, Inc.

828 So. 2d 248, 2002 Ala. LEXIS 72, 2002 WL 320216
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 1, 2002
Docket1001816
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 828 So. 2d 248 (Mathis v. Harrell Company, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mathis v. Harrell Company, Inc., 828 So. 2d 248, 2002 Ala. LEXIS 72, 2002 WL 320216 (Ala. 2002).

Opinions

MADDOX, Retired Justice.

The sole issue in this case is whether the trial judge erred in entering a summary judgment in favor of the defendants in an action in which Kenneth Mathis claimed that he was injured by a defectively designed piece of farm machinery. We reverse and remand.

This action involves a piece of farm machinery called a Super Packer Cotton Module Builder (“Super Packer”) used to pack cotton into a module or bundle. The plaintiffs Kenneth Mathis and Betty G. Mathis, husband and wife, filed a five-count complaint against Harrell Company, Inc. (“Harrell Company”), the manufacturer of the Super Packer; Larry Askew, Kenneth Mathis’s employer; and Brooks AG Company, Inc. (“Brooks AG”), the supplier of the Super Packer. The complaint alleged: (1) that the Super Packer was defective under the provisions of Alabama’s Extended Manufacturers’ Liability Doctrine (“AEMLD”); (2) that the Super Packer was negligently designed; (3) that the defendants negligently failed to provide adequate warnings and instructions for operating the Super Packer; (4) that the defendants wantonly designed the Super Packer and wantonly failed to provide adequate warnings and instructions for operating the Super Packer; and (5) a claim by Betty Mathis for a loss of consortium. On November 16, 1998, the Mathises filed an amended complaint, in which Kenneth Mathis stated a claim under the Employer’s Liability Act, § 25-6-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, in which he alleged that his injuries were caused by a defect in the condition of the Super Packer and a lack of training on the Super Packer. In his amended complaint, Kenneth Mathis also alleged that his injuries were caused by the negligence and/or wantonness of his employer, Larry Askew, in that “Larry Askew failed to adequately warn of the hazards associated with the use of the ‘Super Packer,’ failed to provide literature and training aids and to train [Kenneth Mathis] relating to the hazards associated with the use of the ‘Super Packer,’ failed to provide a safe workplace for [Mathis], and failed to remedy or correct the defect in the ‘Super Packer’ once it was brought to his attention.” Mathis further alleged in the amended complaint that “Larry Askew, ordered and/or directed [Mathis], in the line and scope of this employment, to operate the ‘Super Packer’ when ... Larry Askew, knew or should have known the ‘Super Packer’ was in a defective condition and [Mathis] was bound to conform and did conform to said orders or directions and [Mathis’s] injuries resulted from his having so conformed.”

On March 7, 2001, Betty G. Mathis filed a motion requesting that the trial court dismiss her as a plaintiff, and the trial court granted the motion; therefore, this appeal involves only those claims made by Kenneth Mathis.

On February 2, 2001, Harrell Company filed a motion for a summary judgment, asserting, among other things, that the Super Packer was not defective; that Mathis failed to properly operate the Super Packer according to its instructions; and that Mathis was contributorily negligent.

On March 26, 2001, Askew filed a motion for a summary judgment, asserting, among other things, that the Super Packer was not defective; that Mathis failed to operate the Super Packer properly according to its instructions; and that Mathis was contrib-utorily negligent.

On May 21, 2001, after hearing arguments from each of the parties, the trial court granted the motions for a summary judgment filed by Harrell Company and Askew. The Court, in pertinent part, held:

[251]*251“The matters before the Court are the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Harrell Company, Inc., and Larry Askew. The Court has considered the record, the affidavits, briefs, and argument of counsel. [Mathis] was injured on September 4, 1998 while operating on Defendant Askew’s farm the Super Packer Builder manufactured by Defendant, Harrell Company, Inc. Prior to the accident [Mathis] had observed others operating the packer on several occasions and had himself operated it approximately 30 times.
“Although there were prominently displayed signs warning the operator not to attempt to unlock the tramper cylinder latch while the tramper was in the raised position [Mathis] attempted to do so using a steel bar. The tramper device came down and a metal bar impaled [Mathis’s] arm.
“The Court finds under those material facts that were not in dispute that the equipment the day in question, was not defective, and that the accident was the result of [Mathis’s] failure to properly operate it according to instructions. The Court finds that [Mathis] negligently put himself in a dangerous situation, that he appreciated the danger or that he was in position to appreciate it, and that the appreciation of the danger would have been a conscious appreciation of it when the accident occurred. Therefore, summary judgment is granted, for both of said defendants with the claims against them dismissed due to [Mathis’s] contributory negligence.”

On May 22, 2001, Brooks AG filed a motion for a summary judgment, stating that the motion was due to be granted, “for the same reason and on the same grounds as were found to support the granting of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Harrell Company, Inc., and Defendant Larry Askew by order dated May 21, 2001.” Brooks AG also alleged contributory negligence on the part of Mathis. Finally, Brooks AG alleged that it was, “simply the lessor of the product at issue, as is established by the interrogatory answers given in this action.”

On June 26, 2001, the trial court granted Brooks AG’s motion for a summary judgment.

Facts

Mathis, in his brief to this Court, states that on October 15, 1997, he was working for Askew as a farmhand and was operating a Super Packer that had been designed, engineered, manufactured, and marketed by Harrell Company. Askew was leasing the Super Packer from Brooks AG.

Mathis claims that the record shows that he was never trained in, or given any manuals to read on, the proper way to operate the Super Packer and that he learned to operate the Super Packer “by just doing it.”- He further claims that, immediately before the accident, “Askew had told [him] that he and his other coworkers needed to finish up the field they were working on and move to a different one,” and that he, at that time, “at the urging of Askew, hurriedly finished packing the cotton that was already in the Super Packer, placed a tarp over the back of the tailgate; and began preparing the Super Packer for transport.” (Mathis’s brief, p. 5.)

He claims that “[a]fter attempting to hydraulically break down the Super Packer, [he] realized that the hydraulic cylinder latch would not loosen.” (Mathis’s brief, p. 5.) He says that he then told Askew, “who was standing on the ground beside him, that he could not break down the latch hydraulically and requested that Askew hand him a hammer to knock the latch [252]*252loose” and that “Askew responded that he did not have a hammer, but that he did have a bar in the back of his truck and to use it.” Id. Mathis states that he then proceeded to pry the latch loose and that, “[ajlthough he had never had to use a hammer or bar to loosen the hydraulic cylinder latch, he had seen other co-workers using a tool for this very purpose.” Id. at 5-6.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
828 So. 2d 248, 2002 Ala. LEXIS 72, 2002 WL 320216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mathis-v-harrell-company-inc-ala-2002.