Messer v. Amway Corporation

106 F. App'x 678
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedAugust 10, 2004
Docket02-3268
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 106 F. App'x 678 (Messer v. Amway Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Messer v. Amway Corporation, 106 F. App'x 678 (10th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant Brenda Messer suffered third-degree burns after using a floor-stripping *680 product she alleges was manufactured by appellee Amway Corporation (“Amway”). The complaint Messer filed against Amway asserted claims for: (1) strict liability and negligent failure to warn; (2) strict liability and negligent design; (3) negligent distribution; (4) negligent inspection; (5) negligent testing; and (6) punitive damages. Amway moved for summary judgment on all claims. The district court granted Amway’s motion on several of Messer’s claims and ordered Messer to show cause in writing as to why the court should not direct the entry of judgment in favor of Amway on her remaining claims and as to why her expert’s testimony should not be excluded. Messer filed a response to the Order to Show Cause and the district court heard argument on the matter. Thereafter, the court issued a final order excluding the expert’s proffered testimony and disposing of all Messer’s claims in favor of Amway. Messer then filed this appeal challenging the grant of summary judgment in favor of Amway. 1 Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms the grant of summary judgment. Amway’s motion to file a surreply brief is denied.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On March 22, 1997, Lisa White, the manager of Salon Kalibre in Oletha, Kansas, purchased a 2.5 gallon container of Power Off Heavy Duty Stripper Concentrate (“Power Off Concentrate” or the “Product”) from Gwen Farrell. Farrell obtained the Product from an Amway distributor known as Mitchell & Associates/EDI (“EDI”), who purchased it directly from Amway. On March 23, 1997, White, Messer, and Messer’s son, Jeremy Graves, met at Salon Kalibre. White testified in her deposition that she removed the Power Off Concentrate from the box and read the label. She then opened all the doors of the salon and turned on the vent fan because the label warned that the Product should be used in a well-ventilated area. White further testified that the label contained no information on the necessity of using any equipment to apply the Product although it may have indicated that the user should wear rubber gloves because the Product could cause “minor skin irritation.”

White also testified that the label instructed that the Product should be diluted “five to one” which White understood to mean that she should “use five parts water, one part Power Off Concentrate in a bucket.” She then stated that she diluted the Product by putting three gallons of water in a bucket and adding one cup of Power Off Concentrate. Amway questioned White extensively on this issue:

Q: And how many gallons did you have in the bucket?
A: Three.
Q: Three gallons of water?
A: Yes.
Q: And how much chemical did you put into that bucket of water?
A: A cup.
Q: A cup?
A: Eight ounces.
Q: And when you poured it in there— let me back up. Did you ever pour the chemical directly onto the floor without having first poured it into *681 the bucket to mix it up with the three gallons of water?
A: I don’t think so, no. Not that I recall, no.

Although White testified that she did not mix the Product by pouring it directly onto the floor, Graves testified as follows:

Q: And do you recall, was [White] pouring the product on the floor and then adding water onto the floor or what do you recall in that regard?
A: I think that’s how it went.
Q: So she would take the bottle — the container and pour the product from the container, from this large two-and-a-half gallon container, pour it onto the floor in an area and then pour water on it?
A: Yes, mixed a lot of water.
Q: Did you ever see Lisa White at any time ever pour the product from the two-and-a-half gallon container into a large bucket and mix it with water; did you ever see that?
A: I think that’s how we started it out.
Q: You say that’s how it started out?
A: I think so.
Q: Did it change at some point as you were doing the floor to the point where she would just be pouring the product from the container, from the two-and-a-half gallon container directly onto the floor and then adding the water?
A: What do you mean?
Q: Well, at some point in time in the process of cleaning the floor, did you see occasions where Lisa White would simply pour the product from the large two-and-one-half gallon container directly onto the floor and then add water to the area where she had just poured the product directly from the container?
A: Yes.

Messer testified that when she arrived at Salon Kalibre, White and Graves were already there and working on the floor. She further testified that she did not recall seeing the container of Power Off Concentrate until White mixed more. She did not, however, watch White mix additional batches except “out of the corner of [her] eye” and never mixed any herself. Messer also testified that she did not read the label on the Product before she began working on the floor.

Messer began scrubbing the salon floor using the mixture prepared by White. She testified that she was clothed in long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, shoes, and socks and was wearing rubber gloves. She worked for over one hour, kneeling in the solution and scouring the floor with a brush. Messer testified that her clothing got wet and was pressing against her skin. She did not, however, feel any discomfort. When Messer returned to her home and removed her pants, she noticed that the skin on her knees was dark. When she began to wash her skin with soap and water, she experienced a burning sensation. Messer testified that White drove her back to the salon and White’s husband cut the label off the Power Off Concentrate container. Messer testified that she brought the label with her to the emergency room and either she or White gave it to a nurse.

Messer was diagnosed with third-degree skin burns to both knees and her medical treatment ultimately included skin grafts. She thereafter filed a products liability action against Amway raising the following theories: (1) strict liability and negligent failure to warn; (2) strict liability and negligent design; (3) negligent distribution; (4) negligent inspection; (5) negligent testing; and (6) punitive damages. Amway *682

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106 F. App'x 678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/messer-v-amway-corporation-ca10-2004.