McGuire v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.

790 S.W.2d 842, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1583, 1990 WL 88136
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 24, 1990
Docket09-89-092 CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 790 S.W.2d 842 (McGuire v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGuire v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 790 S.W.2d 842, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1583, 1990 WL 88136 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

OPINION

BROOKSHIRE, Justice.

Three separate litigations were consolidated for appeal. Although there are several plaintiffs, they will be referred to for [845]*845brevity as McGuire; the several defendants will be referred to as Seagram. The latest live pleading of McGuire is his Fifth Amended Original Petition. In that petition McGuire seeks damages for certain diseases, bodily injuries, financial ruin, mental anguish, and loss of consortium caused by and brought about by the “addictive drug, alcohol”. The above named causes of action and various elements of damages are basically founded on RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS sec. 402A (1965), according to McGuire’s pleadings. Other theories of recovery and causes of action are also pleaded. Among these are negligence, breaches of implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, conspiracy, and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. McGuire, in charging negligence and failure to warn and failure to instruct, alleged Seagram was negligent in failing to warn Ronald McGuire “and all Americans” in the following particular matters:

Failure to Warn and Instruct
These defendants failed to warn Ronald McGuire and all Americans that;
1. Continued use or excess use of alcohol would cause cirrhosis of the liver.
2. Alcohol is a drug.
3. Alcohol is a depressant.
4. Alcohol causes diseases of the stomach and duodenum.
5. Alcohol inhibits medical treatment.
6. Alcohol is toxic to the brain cells and tissues.
7. Alcohol is toxic to tissues of the stomach, liver and heart.
8. Drinking alcohol for pleasure or recreational purposes may lead to psychological and physical dependency.
9. Alcohol compromises the immune system.
10. Some people are genetically predisposed to alcoholism.
11. Psychological and social factors may predispose a person to alcoholism.
12. Alcohol is harmful to health.
13. Over two (2) drinks per day is harmful to health.
14. They failed to warn of the signs and symptoms of alcoholism.
15. They failed to instruct on the symptoms of alcoholism.
16. They failed to instruct on safe use of the drug.
17. They failed to warn that alcoholism causes marital discord, family problems and financial problems.
18. They failed to warn that alcoholism will deteriorate or destroy conjugal relations.
19. They failed to warn that alcoholism is a lifetime disease and that recovery is impossible.
20. That “denial” prohibits addicts from recognizing an addiction and receiving treatment.
21. That treatment of the addiction is very costly and beyond the economic means of most alcohol addicts.
22. They failed to warn of the latent, hidden and concealed hazards, defects and dangerous effects of the drug alcohol.
23. They failed to warn Ronald McGuire’s family and friends of the signs and symptoms of alcoholis. [sic]
24. They failed to instruct Ronald McGuire, his family and friends to encourage him to seek help at the first symptoms of alcoholism.

To these pleaded negligences, Seagram leveled special exceptions. A basic thrust of Seagram’s special exceptions is that the effects of beverage alcohol are commonly known. Seagram contends there is no duty to warn the consumer of this common knowledge.

RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS sec. 402A (1965)

McGuire also avidly sought damages and pleaded for relief on certain alleged causes of action founded upon the RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS sec. 402A (1965). In brief sum, Section 402A, “Strict [846]*846Liability”, deals with the strict liability of the seller (or manufacturer) of a product for physical harm to a user or a consumer. Subsection (1) provides that one who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the consumer is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate consumer if the seller is engaged in the business of selling that product and the expectation is that the product will and does reach the consumer without substantial change in its condition when sold by the manufacturer or seller. The rule applies although the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product and although the consumer has not bought the product from or entered into any contractual relationship with the seller. Additional exceptions leveled by Seagram were to a major effect that the lawsuit simply had no legal basis and was not an actionable claim or cause of action. Furthermore, the lawsuit as pleaded is not supportable by the law of strict liability or strict product liability.

On a second tack, Seagram’s later group of special exceptions pronounced that a product permitted by law to be manufactured or that is safe for consumption in some quantity, although limited, precludes the manufacturer from any strict product liability.

Duty to Warn

McGuire also had a pleading on the duty to warn in connection with an unreasonably dangerous product. McGuire alleges that a duty to warn and a duty to provide instructions for the safe use of a product arises in law initially when it is known or reasonably foreseeable that a product may pose a serious risk of harm or danger when used for its intended or reasonably foreseeable purposes or misuses. McGuire charges that Seagram and others knew of the potential harm to users of their products. McGuire alleges that based upon public policy considerations and for the protection of the general public that the strict liability doctrines must be placed on the marketing of alcohol products when the same are placed in the stream of commerce by their makers or distillers or brewers.

In a separate paragraph McGuire charges that liability should be imposed upon the defendants because of another violation of RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS sec. 402A (1965). The thrust of this allegation is that Seagram and the other manufacturers had produced whiskey and other alcoholic products and placed the same in the stream of commerce. Some of them were consumed by McGuire, nevertheless, these defendants collectively knew or should have known at the time that the whiskey sold would be injurious to the human body and especially to the body of McGuire. Hence, the failure to warn of the dangers and to instruct as to safe use, thereby rendered the whiskey and other alcoholic beverages unreasonably dangerous as the same were marketed and that these failures to warn and failures to instruct were a producing cause if not a proximate cause of the occurrences made the basis of the litigation.

Then, McGuire alleges that he suffers from the disease of alcoholism. This disease of alcoholism is a physical and psychological dependency on alcohol. Alcoholism has put McGuire in a special class requiring full and adequate warnings.

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Related

Schmidt v. Centex Beverage, Inc.
825 S.W.2d 791 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
McGuire v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc.
790 S.W.2d 842 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
790 S.W.2d 842, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1583, 1990 WL 88136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcguire-v-joseph-e-seagram-sons-inc-texapp-1990.