Shushereba v. R.B. Industries, Inc.

104 F.R.D. 524, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22815
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 6, 1985
DocketCiv. A. No. 82-2285
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 104 F.R.D. 524 (Shushereba v. R.B. Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shushereba v. R.B. Industries, Inc., 104 F.R.D. 524, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22815 (W.D. Pa. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

SIMMONS, District Judge.

This product liability action arises out of injuries sustained by the plaintiff while operating a machine designed, manufactured and distributed by the defendant. The plaintiff sought to recover damages on the theory of strict liability, claiming that his injuries were caused by the defective design of the defendant’s machine. After a trial on the merits, the trial court submitted the case to the jury through special interrogatories. The jury found that the defendant’s machine was free from defect and judgment was entered for the defendant. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a motion for a new trial. The plaintiff’s arguments are without legal merit and his motion for a new trial is accordingly denied.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND.

The plaintiff, George Shushereba, was employed by H.J. Lauris Company as a skilled, heavy construction machine opera[526]*526tor and a site supervisor. Among various responsibilities, Shushereba operated a Model 200H Horizontal Earth Auger Drill. A horizontal earth auger drill is an underground boring machine consisting of two pieces of heavy construction equipment: a boring unit1 and a power unit2. An earth auger drill is used to drill horizontal holes beneath existing obstructions, such as, for examples, a highway, a driveway, a railroad crossing or a creek bed. It is designed to eliminate the necessity of removing existing aboveground structures to lay utility, telephone, water, gas, sewage or cable television lines.

The defendant, R.B. Industries, designs and manufactures two types of horizontal earth auger drills to match specific horizontal boring applications: a “free boring” model, which simply augers a hole beneath the earth’s surface, and a “casing pushing” model, which augers inside a casing. The latter type, which is the subject matter of this litigation, simultaneously bores a hole while it lays casing.

The horizontal earth auger drill is operated by hydraulic power; the power unit is separated from the boring machine and sits outside of a boring trench. The drill in this case, a model 200H, was powered by the hydraulics of a back hoe tractor.3 Two control valves at the rear of the auger unit provide directional control for both the drill’s auger drive and its cylinder thrust. The “auger motor control valve”4 turns the auger inside the casing in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, while the “thrust control valve”5 moves the auger shaft along the casing in either a forward or reverse direction.

A horizontal earth auger drill is operated in a leveled trench cut alongside an existing aboveground structure under which a hole must be bored. As the drill bores into the earth, the auger moves dirt or the spoils back through the casing along the auger shaft to the rear of the auger unit. The spoils are ejected from the machine by paddles through an expulsion or ejection chute,6 which is covered by a hinged door.

On November 19, 1980, Shushereba was using the model 200H Horizontal Earth Auger Drill to drill a hole under a highway where telephone cables were to be installed. On the day of the accident it was cold and damp; it had recently rained. The drill sat in a three feet deep pit. Water had settled in the trench and its embankments were muddy. After operating the machine for some time, Shushereba exited the pit and crossed the highway to inspect the progress of the auger.

Before Shushereba exited the trench, he placed the auger drill’s control levers in a neutral position, but left the remote power supply running; hydraulic fluid was being pumped to the drill from the back hoe tractor through attached hydraulic hoses. The hinged door to the ejection chute was also left open. According to the Shushereba’s testimony, when he returned to reenter the trench he lost his footing on moist soil and slipped into the trench. Shushereba’s foot lodged in the ejection chute and his arm simultaneously struck the auger control lever which activated the drill. Shushereba’s left foot was crushed by the machine’s rotating discharge paddles and this product liability suit resulted.

At trial, Shushereba claimed that his injuries were caused by design defects in the defendant’s model 200H Horizontal Earth Auger Drill and advanced four basis of recovery under Pennsylvania’s product liability law. Shushereba alleged that the defendant’s machine was defective because: it could not effectively auger through various soil consistencies as advertised; there were no locking devices on the hydraulic control levers to prevent accidental operation; there was no housing or guard around the hydraulic control levers [527]*527to prevent accidental activation; and there were no permanent warning and instruction plates attached to the machine. The case was submitted to the jury under the four theories alleged by the plaintiff through special interrogatories. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant and the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial followed.

Shushereba now advances several grounds for setting aside the jury’s verdict. First, Shushereba claims that the jury erred in its fact-finding function and abused its discretion by reaching a hasty verdict for the defendant. Second, Shushereba asserts that the jury’s answers to the special interrogatories were against the weight of the evidence and that the jury was confused and misled by the special interrogatories. Shushereba also contends that improper remarks made by a defense witness and voluminous surveillance films shown during the trial unfairly prejudiced the jury against his case. Finally, Shushereba argues that the jury’s verdict was against the Court’s final instructions on the law. The defendant vigorously opposes the plaintiff’s motion.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW.

The plaintiff seeks a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59. Under Rule 59(a) “[a] new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties on all or part of the issues ... in an action in which there has been a trial by jury....” Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a). Although the advisory committee thought it impracticable to enumerate all grounds for a new trial in Rule 59(a), the Supreme Court has held that a motion for a new trial may be bottomed on a claim “that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, that damages are excessive, or that, for other reasons, the trial was not fair to the party moving; and may raise questions of law arising out of alleged substantial errors in admission or rejection of evidence or instructions to the jury.” See Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Duncan, 311 U.S. 243, 251, 61 S.Ct. 189, 194, 85 L.Ed. 147 (1940).

The propriety of granting a motion for a new trial is a matter lodged within the sound discretion of the trial court. Under Rule 59, the trial court is given broad discretion to prevent a perceived miscarriage of justice. Kerry Coal Co. v. UMW, 488 F.Supp. 1080, 1095 (W.D.Pa.1980), aff'd, 637 F.2d 957 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 823, 102 S.Ct. 109, 70 L.Ed.2d 95 (1981).

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Bluebook (online)
104 F.R.D. 524, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shushereba-v-rb-industries-inc-pawd-1985.