Olson v. Prosoco, Inc.

522 N.W.2d 284, 1994 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 186, 1994 WL 515743
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedSeptember 21, 1994
Docket93-228
StatusPublished
Cited by73 cases

This text of 522 N.W.2d 284 (Olson v. Prosoco, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Olson v. Prosoco, Inc., 522 N.W.2d 284, 1994 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 186, 1994 WL 515743 (iowa 1994).

Opinion

SNELL, Justice.

Appellant, Prosoeo, Inc. (Prosoeo) appeals from a jury verdict and judgment entered against it in a products liability action brought by David Olson and members of his family (Olson). The district court entered judgment against Prosoeo in an amount exceeding $735,000, including $42,000 in consortium damages. Olson based his claim for damages on theories of strict liability and negligence. We affirm.

Numerous errors are assigned by Prosoeo as grounds for reversal. Our standard of review in this case is for errors of law. Iowa R.App.P. 4.

I. Facts

David Olson is a bricklayer foreman employed by Seedorf Masonry Company (See-dorf). Late on the afternoon of December 15, 1988, Olson spotted a fifteen gallon drum of mortar cleaner sitting on the ground. To prevent the cleaner drum from freezing to the ground, he picked it up and moved it onto a nearby pallet. When Olson dropped the drum on the pallet, the bung closure popped out of the drum, splashing hydrochloric acid based cleaner into his right eye. Despite extensive medical care, Olson eventually lost sight in his right eye. In April 1991 doctors fitted Olson with an artificial eye.

The mortar cleaner, called “Sure Klean 600,” is manufactured and packaged by Pro-soco. The fifteen gallon drum into which Prosoeo packages the cleaner is manufactured by Delta Drum Corporation (Delta Drum). The bung closures used in the fifteen gallon drums are manufactured by Rieke Corporation (Rieke). Olson initially named Rieke and Delta Drum in this lawsuit. Rieke and Delta Drum settled their cases with Olson. Olson sued Prosoeo under several theories of strict liability and negligence. 1 Prosoeo requested a state-of-the-art defense jury instruction with regard to Ol *287 son’s strict liability and negligence theories. The jury found Prosoco one-hundred percent at fault for Olson’s injuries under both theories.

II. Strict Liability and Negligence Claims

Prosoco claims the court erred by submitting the case on both strict liability and negligence theories. We have said that courts must give requested jury instructions when they correctly state the law applicable to the facts of the case and if the legal concept is not embodied in other instructions. Stover v. Lakeland Square Owners Ass’n, 434 N.W.2d 866, 868 (Iowa 1989). However, even instructions correctly stating the law should not give undue emphasis to any particular theory, defense, stipulation, burden of proof, or piece of evidence. Dickman v. Truck Transp., Inc., 224 N.W.2d 459, 464 (Iowa 1974). Error in giving or refusing to give instructions is reversible, only if prejudicial. Stover, 434 N.W.2d at 868.

Prosoco contends the submission of instructions on both strict liability and negligence theories was duplicative and confusing, resulting in prejudicial error. Prosoco asks this court to build on our holding in Hillrichs v. Avco Corp. in which we held that a plaintiffs strict liability claim depended on the same elements of proof as his negligence claim. See Hillrichs v. Avco Corp., 478 N.W.2d 70, 75-76 (Iowa 1991). On remand, we held that only the negligence claim should be retried. Id.

Olson contends the submission of a strict liability instruction does not preclude liability based on a negligence theory. He stresses that our decision in Hillrichs was limited strictly to the facts of that case and claims that in the case at bar the strict *288 liability and negligence instructions submitted do not depend on the same elements of proof.

In Hawkeye-Security Insurance Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 174 N.W.2d 672, 684 (Iowa 1970), we adopted section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, recognizing a strict liability cause of action in products liability cases. We distinguished strict liability/design defect claims from negligence claims in Alter v. Rodgers Machinery Manufacturing Co., 268 N.W.2d 830, 835 (Iowa 1978). In Alter the alleged design defect involved a saw which the plaintiff claimed was unreasonably dangerous when used in the normal, anticipated manner intended by the seller. Id. at 832. We held the presence of the “unreasonably dangerous” element in our strict liability/design defect analysis did not inject considerations of negligence into the strict liability case. Id. at 835. We noted that in strict liability, the plaintiff’s proof concerns the condition of the product which is designed or manufactured in a particular manner. Id. In contrast, negligence concerns the reasonableness of the manufacturer’s conduct in designing and selling the product as it did. Id.

Some courts have held that a product may be unreasonably dangerous and thus “defective,” triggering strict liability, if the seller fails to give adequate directions or warning regarding its use. See Tucson Indus., Inc. v. Schwartz, 108 Ariz. 464, 501 P.2d 936, 940-41 (1972); Anderson v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 53 Cal.3d 987, 281 Cal.Rptr. 528, 536-38, 810 P.2d 549, 557-59 (1991); Woodill v. Parke Davis & Co., 79 Ill.2d 26, 37 Ill.Dec. 304, 306, 402 N.E.2d 194, 196 (1980); Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. Zenobia, 325 Md. 420, 601 A.2d 633, 641 (1992); Mauch v. Manufacturers Sales & Serv., Inc., 345 N.W.2d 338, 346 (N.D.1984); Phillips v. Kimwood Mach. Co., 269 Or. 485, 525 P.2d 1033, 1038 (1974). Our court has never explicitly adopted this principle. See Iowa Civil Jury Instruction 1000.6 cmt. (1991). In Cooley v. Quick Supply Co., 221 N.W.2d 763, 765 (Iowa 1974), a case involving a prematurely exploding dynamite fuse, the jury considered both a strict liability count and a negligence count. In the strict liability count the only product defect submitted was that the fuse did not appear to be ignited when it was in fact ignited. Id. The sole count of negligence alleged that the defendant failed to warn as to the safe and proper use of the product. Id. We affirmed the jury’s verdict for the plaintiff. Id. at 773.

Generally, there are two competing views regarding the failure to warn/strict liability question. The first is that there is little, if any, difference between strict liability and negligence in failure to warn eases. Flaminio v. Honda Motor Co.,

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Bluebook (online)
522 N.W.2d 284, 1994 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 186, 1994 WL 515743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olson-v-prosoco-inc-iowa-1994.