Thompson v. TCI Products Co.

81 F. Supp. 3d 1257, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8451, 2015 WL 321400
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 26, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-CV-0824-CVE-PJC
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 81 F. Supp. 3d 1257 (Thompson v. TCI Products Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. TCI Products Co., 81 F. Supp. 3d 1257, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8451, 2015 WL 321400 (N.D. Okla. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

CLAIRE V. EAGAN, District Judge.

Before the Court is the motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 41) filed by defendant TCI Products Co. (TCI). Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, TCI requests summary judgment as to plaintiffs products liability, negligence, and breach of warranty claims. Dkt. # 41, at 4. Plaintiff responds that genuine disputes of material fact remain as to the products liability and negligence claims, but plaintiff concedes that the breach of warranty claim is not supported by evidence. Dkt. # 50, at 5, 22. Defendant has filed a reply. Dkt. # 58.

I.

On December 9, 2012, Troy Howard Thompson was using a plasma cutter to cut lids from secondhand barrels. Dkt. # 41-1. According to plaintiff, Thompson was a “jack-of-all-trades,” and he operated a variety of businesses, including a tire shop, a landscaping business, and a storage facility, as well as owning a herd of cattle. Dkt. # 41-2, at 2, 5-6. Thompson’s exact purpose in cutting the barrel was unknown, but another resident of the rural area in Ottawa County, Oklahoma where Thompson lived stated that secondhand barrels “have a thousand and one uses on the rural America farm.” Dkt. # 41-3, at 4. This was not the first barrel the lid of which Thompson had removed that day, id. at 9, but the source of the barrels was unknown. Dkt. # 50, at 6. What is known is that one barrel exploded when Thompson began cutting it open, and the explosion reportedly rocked the surrounding area. Dkt. #41-1. Thompson died before emergency personnel arrived. Id.

A neighbor found the lid of the barrel on the roof of a nearby outbuilding. Dkt. # 41-3, at 15. The label on the lid was no longer pristine, but it remained legible enough to be read in part. Id. at 17. The label declared the barrel to have contained “Refinisher’s Choice 100% Virgin Solvents # 15, Fast Dry Acrylic Lacquer Thinner” (RC). Dkt. #50-6. TCI manufactures RC, along with a number of similar products, for applications in the painting of [1261]*1261vehicles. Dkt. #41-6, at 2. RC is used both to thin paint and to clean painting equipment. Dkt. #41-6, at 11-12. TCI does not sell RC directly either to the general public or to the businesses that paint vehicles; instead, it sells RC only to distributors, and each distributor “sells to its customers, automobile body shops.” Dkt. # 50, at 5-6.

TCI knows that RC, like other products of its type, is highly flammable and explosive. Dkt. # 41-6, at 17-18; see also Dkt. # 41-7, at 1, 4. According to the company’s representative, TCI has not attempted to develop a non-flammable product that could replace RC, but it notes that it does not develop paint or painting equipment; until those products are changed to accommodate a non-flammable paint thinner, developing such a product would be useless. Dkt. #41-6, at 19-21. To combat the obvious dangers posed by RC, TCI includes on each barrel sold a warning label,2 as well as a Material Safety Data Sheet that outlines the hazards presented as well as safety precautions to take when using or storing RC. See id. at 23, 25-26; see also Dkt. ## 41-7, 50-6. TCI’s representative also described a “closed loop” of barrels that the company thought would keep RC out of the public’s hands: TCI would buy a barrel from a barrel refur-bisher, fill it with RC, and sell it to a distributor; the distributor would sell the barrel of RC to a business, and the business would use the product; when the barrel was empty, the business would sell the barrel back to the refurbisher. Dkt. # 50-7, at 15-16. However, TCI makes no effort to ensure that the businesses who purchase RC from TCI’s distributors actually sell the used barrels to a barrel refur-bisher. Id. at 16.

Plaintiff filed his amended complaint in Oklahoma state court, and TCI removed to this Court based on diversity of citizenship. Dkt. # 5, at 1. TCI now moves for summary judgment as to all of plaintiffs claims against it.

II.

Summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 is appropriate where there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Kendall v. Watkins, 998 F.2d 848, 850 (10th Cir.1993). The plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548. “Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal [1262]*1262Rules as a whole, which are designed ‘to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.’” Id. at 327,106 S.Ct. 2548.

“When the moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.... Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’ ” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citations omitted). “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the [trier of fact] could reasonably find for the plaintiff.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.' In essence, the inquiry for the Court is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law:” Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In its review, the Court construes the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Garratt v. Walker, 164 F.3d 1249, 1251 (10th Cir.1998).

III.

The amended complaint alleges claims of manufacturer’s products liability, negligence, and breach of warranty against TCI. Dkt. # 5-1, at 7-17. TCI moves for summary judgment as to each of these claims. Dkt. # 41, at 1. Plaintiff concedes that he does not have a viable breach of warranty claim against TCI. Dkt. # 50, at 22. Summary judgment is therefore granted to TCI on plaintifPs breach of warranty claim. However, plaintiff argues that genuine issues of material fact exist to preclude summary judgment on both the products liability and negligence claims.

A. Products Liability

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Bluebook (online)
81 F. Supp. 3d 1257, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8451, 2015 WL 321400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-tci-products-co-oknd-2015.