Nath v. National Equipment Leasing Corp.

439 A.2d 633, 497 Pa. 126, 28 A.L.R. 4th 317, 33 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1068, 1981 Pa. LEXIS 1140
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania·Decided December 17, 1981·No. 653·Published·Cited by 47 cases

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

NIX, Justice.*

This is an action in trespass brought in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, 282 Pa. Super. 142, 422 A.2d 868 in which appellant seeks to recover damages sustained from an injury suffered during the course of his employment. On March 29, 1972 the left hand of David John Nath, appellant, became caught in the gears and blades of a wire and cable stripping machine which did not provide a guard to protect the user’s hands. Mr. Nath lost three fingers and part of the hand. His employer, Keystone Metals Company (now Keystone Resources) obtained the machine from the Rigby Manufacturing Company, which made it. Keystone asked appellee, National Equipment Leasing Corporation (National) to finance the purchase. Keystone had ordered the machine, bargained for the purchase price and received the initial invoice of $1,875.00.

Appellee borrowed money from the Pittsburgh National Bank (PNB) in order to provide the funds for Keystone’s purchase. Rigby Manufacturing Company accommodated National’s request to reinvoice the machine to show appellee as owner. Appellee then prepared a lease schedule for the machine and a financing statement to be filed in accordance with the security interest provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code. 13 Pa. C.S.A. §§ 1101 et seq. The lease was assigned to PNB as security in case National defaulted on its [128] loan obligation. The security statement showed National to be a secured party and Keystone a debtor. The machine was later sold by Keystone during the lease term (in March of 1975) to a company in California and the proceeds turned over to National. Appellant, in another action based upon the same injury, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Rigby Manufacturing Company, secured a verdict of $175,000.00.

On December 16, 1975, appellant’s motion for partial summary judgment as to the applicability of the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A1 to appellee was denied by a court en banc. That court concluded the appellate courts of Pennsylvania had not extended Section 402A to lessors. A week later, the lower court certified the case for appeal to the Superior Court, pursuant to 17 P.S. § 211.501. On January 5, 1976, the Superior Court denied appellant’s Petition for Allowance of Appeal. Appellant then petitioned this Court for allowance of an appeal. On March 3, 1976 the petition was granted. On June 3, 1977, we remanded the case to the lower court, Nath v. Nat’l Equipment Leasing Corp., 473 Pa. 178, 373 A.2d 1105 (1977) (Nath I), in view of the fact that

[subsequent to the action of the court below, [we] handed down. . . Francioni v. Gibsonia Truck Corporation, 472 Pa. 362, 372 A.2d 736. . .wherein we reasoned:
[129] ‘What is crucial to the rule of strict liability is not the means of marketing but rather the fact of marketing, whether by sale, lease or bailment, for use and consumption by the public.’
Id. [472 Pa. at 367] 372 A.2d at 738.
Thus, in view of our holding that the strict liability of Section 402[A] is to be extended to a supplier of chattels, even though the marketing device employed is a lease, we now vacate the order denying the motions for partial summary judgment and remand the cause for further consideration in view of our opinion in Francioni v. Gibsonia Truck Corporation, supra. [Footnote omitted.]
Id. 473 Pa. at 180; 373 A.2d at 1106.

The question intended to be remanded in Nath I is whether the lease in question was in fact merely a financing device or whether it was a marketing device used by supplier of chattel. On remand the parties agreed to a trial in limine. Only the issue of whether the lease was a conventional, commercial one or a financial device was considered. The lower court found the lease to be a financing device and further concluded that under Francioni section 402A did not apply. As a result, the action was dismissed. The Superior Court affirmed the lower court and this appeal followed. Both courts’ decisions are fully in accord with the principles announced by this Court in Francioni.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether Section 402A applies to a “lessor” under a secured transaction financing device. When we decided Francioni v. Gibsonia Truck Corporation, supra, conventional, commercial leases were clearly distinguished from those secured transactions termed “leases” for financing purposes. 472 Pa. at 369-70 n.3, 372 A.2d at 740 n. 3. We indicated in footnote 3 of Francioni, supra, the policy considerations operative in extending strict liability to a commercial or true lease are not present where the lessor neither markets nor supplies the product, but is merely a secured party.

Appellee contends that its lease arrangement with David Tesone Trucking Company was actually a method of fi[130] nancing equipment and not a conventional, commercial lease. The essence of appellee’s argument is that the rule of strict liability does not extend to finance lessors engaged in the business of finance leasing. We agree with the appellee that the finance lease is sui generis and that the policy considerations justifying an extension of the concept of strict liability to the true lease are not present when the lessor is not “marketing” or “supplying” the product but is, in fact, merely a secured party, or financier, whose collateral is the “product.” The distinction between finance and conventional leasing has been described in the following manner:
The finance lease and its variant, the leverage lease have brought into the leasing market men and financial institutions who are financiers rather than sellers. These lessors do not manufacture or sell the equipment they lease; instead, they purchase it for the lessee. That is, the equipment that is ordered by the lessee is purchased by the lessor and in turn rented to the lessee. The reasons are obvious when one considers tax advantages that are given to those who invest funds in equipment. Hawkland, The Impact of the Uniform Commercial Code on Equipment Leasing, 1972 U.Ill.L.F. 446, 449.
See also Comment, Finance Lessor’s Liability for Personal Injuries, 1974 U.Ill.L.F. 154.
An additional distinction between conventional or “true” leases and finance or “security” leases is seen in the lessor-lessee relationship:
The true lease is what is commonly meant by the word “lease”. In theory, the lessor allows the lessee to use the equipment for some fraction of its useful life, but “fully expects to retake the chattel at the end of the lease term and either resell or re-lease it.” The right to possession of the equipment upon default or expiration of the lease may be termed the “equipment reversion.”

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Nath v. National Equipment Leasing Corp., 439 A.2d 633, 497 Pa. 126, 28 A.L.R. 4th 317, 33 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1068, 1981 Pa. LEXIS 1140 (Pa. 1981).

439 A.2d 633 (Nath v. National Equipment Leasing Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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