Sudderth v. Mariner Electric Co.

193 So. 3d 552, 2016 WL 3033669, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1048
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 26, 2016
DocketNo. 16-CA-5
StatusPublished

This text of 193 So. 3d 552 (Sudderth v. Mariner Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sudderth v. Mariner Electric Co., 193 So. 3d 552, 2016 WL 3033669, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1048 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

HANS J. LILJEBERG, Judge!

| sin this products liability action, plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s judgment,'rendered in accordance'with a jury verdict, in favor of defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Commonwealth is a 67-foot wooden yacht built in 1936. According to plaintiff, Dr. Ward Sudderth, he purchased the Commonwealth in 2004 through a corporation of which he is the sole shareholder, G & S, Inc. (“G & S”), also a plaintiff in this matter. After they purchased the vessel, Dr. Sudderth and G & S began renovating and restoring it.

Although there were portable fire-suppression units on the Commonwealth, in September of 2010, Dr. Sudderth consulted with employees of Donovan Marine, Inc., a marine wholesaler, about obtaining an automatic fire-suppression system. Based on their discussions, Dr. Sudderth purchased a Sea-Fire Model FE1000A automatic fire-suppression system manufactured by Metalcraft, Inc. John (“Jay”) LMatherne, who worked on the renovations of the Commonwealth for Dr. Sudderth, installed the automatic fire extinguisher in the engine room of the Commonwealth with the bottom of the cylinder approximately six or seven inches above the deck boards.

On the night of June 6, 2011, a fire started in the engine room of the Commonwealth and continued into the early morning hours of June 7, 2011, When it was extinguished by the fire department. According to the- evidence presented, the fire started when an exterior winch- motor “shorted out”, due to heavy rain, causing the winch to turn on and to continue pulling power from the battery until the battery overheated, caught fire, and set the yacht on fire. During the fire, the automat[555]*555ic fire extinguisher did not discharge or activate.

On May 31, 2012, Dr. Sudderth and G & S filed a Petition for Damages against several defendants, including: 1) Mariner Electric Company, Inc. (“Mariner”), an electrical contractor that-performed work on • the Commonwealth; 2) Joey Muth, president of Mariner; 3) Richard Muth, an electrician employed by Mariner; 4) Met-alcraft, Inc., as manufacturer of the fire extinguisher; 5) Sea-Fire Marine, a Division of Metalcraft, Inc-., as manufacturer of the fire extinguisher; 6) Sea-Fire Marine, as manufacturer of the fire extinguisher; 7) Trojan Battery Company, as manufacturer of the battery; and 8) Great American Insurance Company of New York, as an alleged insurer of Mariner and the Muths.

In their petition, plaintiffs alleged that the electrical system installed by Mariner was substandard and negligently installed, because it lacked a working circuit breaker in the winch line. They claimed that the failure to install a proper electrical system resulted in the fire and extensive damage to the Commonwealth. Plaintiffs further asserted that Metalcraft, Inc., Sea-Fire Marine, a Division of Metalcraft, Inc., and Sea-Fire Marine (hereinafter collectively referred to as | ¿‘Metalcraft”) are liable as the manufacturers of the automatic fire-suppression system, because it was defective, unreasonably dangerous in design, construction, and composition, and did not perform as advertised, which is a breach of an express warranty. They also claimed that Metalcraft did not give an adequate warning about the dangers of the risk of failure of the fire-suppression system.

On October 10, 2014, ¡Metalcraft filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, asserting that the claims against it should be dismissed because plaintiffs had failed to show a defect in the product and had not put forth sufficient evidence- to present a claim under the Louisiana Products Liability Act (“LPLA”), La. R.S. 9:2800.51, et seq., or any other theory of recovery. It argued that there was no evidence to show that the automatic extinguisher was unreasonably dangerous in construction, composition, or design, or that it contained inadequate warnings or failed to. conform to an express warranty.

Thereafter, on December 17, 2014, Dr. Sudderth and G & S filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, asserting that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of breach of an express warranty. They claimed that the evidence shows that the automatic extinguisher failed to discharge at 175 degrees Fahrenheit during the fire, which it was expressly warranted to do.

After a hearing on January 13, 2015, the trial judge denied both the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Metalcraft and the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment filed by Dr. Sudderth and G & S.

Prior to trial, Mariner, Richard Muth, and Joey Muth settled with the plaintiffs, and Trojan Battery Co., was dismissed from this matter on summary judgment. Thus, Metalcraft was the only defendant remaining at the time , of trial. - . ■

A jury" trial began on January 26, 2015. At trial, Ernest Ellis, the president' of Metalcraft, testified’ that the fire-suppression system at issue was manufacturedj 2010 and was designed to protect unoccupied engine compartments. - He stated that the actuation temperature for the unit was 175 degrees Fahrenheit, and that it was designed to activate when the temperature of the sensor bulb itself, not the air in the surrounding area, reaches this temperature. - Mr. Ellis stated that the metal of the unit will absorb some heat, and thus, the temperature of the sensor [556]*556valve may not reach 175 degrees when the ambient temperature reaches 175 degrees. Mr. Ellis stated that he believes the fire extinguisher would have discharged and the majority of the damage would have been prevented if the unit had been installed properly.

Jay Matherne testified that in approximately 2007, he began performing some renovation work on the Commonwealth for Dr. Sudderth. Mr. Matherne stated that the automatic fire-suppression system was the last thing installed in the engine room before the fire occurred. He testified that the installation instructions provided that the fire extinguisher should be installed at a location as high as possible on a bulkhead, and that it was preferable to locate the detector head near the area where a fire would most likely occur, such as the fuel line side of the engines near the carburetor or fuel pump. The instructions also stated that the detector head should be kept away from the exhaust manifold.

Mr. Matherne testified that the engine room of the Commonwealth only had one accessible bulkhead, so he installed the fire extinguisher as high as possible on this bulkhead near the fuel filters, which was as far from the engine exhaust as possible. He stated that electrical or air conditioning modifications would have to have been made in order to place the extinguisher any higher.

On cross-examination, Mr. Matherne testified that a location for the fire extinguisher was not “mapped out” before the electrical and air conditioning work was done in the engine room. After this work was performed, he installed the 17extinguisher in a location where it could be placed without moving other things. He testified that two air conditioning ducts with fiberglass insulation were located two to three inches above where he installed the fire extinguisher. Mr. Matherne went to the location after the fire and did not see any fire damage to the wood directly behind the fire extinguisher.

Dr. Sudderth testified that he spoke with an employee of Donovan Marine in September of 2010 about purchasing an automatic fire-suppression system and the employee recommended the Sea-Fire system that he ultimately purchased.

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Bluebook (online)
193 So. 3d 552, 2016 WL 3033669, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1048, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sudderth-v-mariner-electric-co-lactapp-2016.