Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Co. v. Northern Illinois Gas Co.

306 N.E.2d 337, 16 Ill. App. 3d 638, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1579
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 28, 1973
Docket72-235
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 306 N.E.2d 337 (Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Co. v. Northern Illinois Gas Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Co. v. Northern Illinois Gas Co., 306 N.E.2d 337, 16 Ill. App. 3d 638, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1579 (Ill. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinions

Mr. JUSTICE STOUDER

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff-Appellant, Pioneer Hi-Bred Com Company of Illinois, appeals from a judgment entered on the verdict of the jury in favor of DefendantAppellee, Northern Illinois Gas Company, by the Circuit Court of Bureau County.

Plaintiff owns a plant located less than a mile north of Princeton, Illinois, where com is processed for resale to farmers. The com is dried in large portable gas dryers. Defendant, a distributor of natural gas, and plaintiff executed a “Gas Service Contract” in September, 1966 whereby gas was to be supplied to plaintiff at a pressure of approximately 45 pounds per square inch. There were seven dryers in use during 1967, each drawing gas from one of the gas risers or standpipes through a connecting rubber hose ten feet long. On one of the dryers a six foot hose was connected to the ten foot hose by hose clamps.

In the fall of 1967, plaintiff notified defendant it was not receiving the required 45 p.s.i. but was receiving only 20 to 30 p.s.i. The operation supervisor for defendant, Richard Bergeson, went to plaintifFs plant and after checking the meter house found that the pressure was inadequate. Bergeson and John O’Reilly, defendant’s marketing engineer, looked over the dryers, the hoses and equipment to determine whether the system could handle the pressure if a bypass of the regulator were used. They then advised the plant manager at Pioneer, Mr. Kensinger, the only way to increase the pressure and quantity was to bypass the regulator since the regulator acts as a restriction on the flow of gas and reduces pressure by a few pounds. They also advised the pressure could rise to 75 p.s.i. during periods of low usage. After looking at the plaintiff’s equipment, Bergeson and O’Reilly concluded it could withstand the higher pressure. Kensinger asked the employees of defendant if damage could result from such pressure and was told the only damage would be to the gas pressure gauge on the dryers. Defendant did not suggest any alternative way to increase pressure.

The regulators were bypassed on September 27, 1967 which allowed the gas to flow uncontrolled into plaintiff’s pipes except for a regulator upstream with a 75 p.s.i. setting. One of defendant’s employees stopped at plaintiff’s plant several times a week to check a chart where the pressure entering the plaintiffs lines was recorded. Until October 2, the pressure varied between 74 p.s.i. and 6 p.s.i. with' radical changes in pressure within short time periods. On October 2 the regulators were again put in use and plaintiff was supplied a constant pressure of 45 p.s.i. The pressure began to decrease and on October 12, defendant again put the system on bypass. Thereafter high and variable pressure was supplied up until the evening of October 12 when Bartman, a Pioneer employee on the night shift who inspected the dryers hourly, noticed the dryers were all running hot. He attempted to reduce the heat by turning the temperature control value on each dryer. The 6 foot and 10 foot lengths of hose connecting the one dryer were vibrating and bouncing. Shortly thereafter he heard the hose blow. While he was attempting to turn the shutoff valve, the gas exploded causing a fire which injured Bartman and caused property damage amounting to $211,712 (amount stipulated by the parties).

Plaintiff brought this action to recover for damages to property and equipment allegedly caused by defendant’s misconduct. Five counts were alleged upon alternative theories of negligence, wilful and wanton misconduct, breach of implied warranty, liability for ultrahazardous activity and breach of contract. The count alleging wilful and wanton misconduct was dismissed on plaintiffs motion. The trial court dismissed at the dose of all the evidence all other counts except that of negligence. The jury returned a verdict for defendant. The only assignments of error relate to Count I alleging negligence and Count III alleging breach of implied warranty.

Plaintiffs first assignment of error is the trial court improperly dismissed Count III of the complaint. We agree. The issue which has been contested is the sufficiency of evidence to support the allegations in Count III which charge defendant with a breach of implied warranty. Since the court directed a verdict in favor of the defendant on this count of the complaint at the close of all of the evidence, the propriety of'the'court’s ruling must be tested under the Pedrick rule, which of course means considering all the evidence in its aspect most favorable to plaintiff. Plaintiff has devoted a substantial portion of its brief to support the position that an action for. breach of implied warranty may be brought in the case of the sale of natural gas. Since defendant does not dispute that position taken by plaintiff, we will accept it as the applicable rule in this case.

The plaintiff has also devoted a portion of its brief to justify the form of the products liability count. As indicated, this count is based on implied warranty generally considered a contract theory of recovery, rather than the strict liability in tort theory, illustrated by Suvada v. White Motor Company, 32 Ill.2d 612, 210 N.E.2d 182. Again we note the defendant did not object to this count either because of the theory advanced or because of any failure of allegation or proof of any conditions precedent before liability based on breach of implied warranty could be asserted. Consequently, any deficiencies in the sufficiency of the pleading are waived, and this is particularly true where, as in this case, the defendant has not raised the issue on appeal. However, before considering defendant’s specific reasons which the court held were sufficient to'warrant dismissal of this count of the complaint, namely the lack of evidence to support plaintiff’s assertion that the product was defective and caused the damage, it might be helpful to recall a few of the underlying reasons which have contributed to the evolution of products liability theory. ’

It should be recalled the liability of a manufacturer predicated upon breach of implied warranties is long standing, having its earliest inception and application to the sale of food. Prior to the Suvada case, a manufacturer’s liability for breach of implied warranties was-limited to those parties with whom he contracted or who stood in privity with his contracting party, subject however to some exceptions. These exceptions were generally couched in terms of products deemed to be inherently dangerous and where such products were inherently dangerous, liability was extended to injured parties who could not claim standing by virtue of privity of contract. As may be gleaned from the precursors of Suvada, the concept of an inherently dangerous-product was difficult, if not impossible, to apply rationally. Furthermore, the concept did not commend itself as a reasonable policy in this industrial era. The principal import of Suvada was to abandon either the necessity for privity of contract or the exception that an inherently dangerous product be involved. In Illinois, we elected to extend the evolving theory of products liability to the tort arena, although continuing to some extent prior ideas of dangerousness by referring to the basis of recovery as depending upon the existence of an unreasonably dangerous condition causing injury.

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Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Co. v. Northern Illinois Gas Co.
306 N.E.2d 337 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
306 N.E.2d 337, 16 Ill. App. 3d 638, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pioneer-hi-bred-corn-co-v-northern-illinois-gas-co-illappct-1973.