WABASH METAL PRODUCTS, INC. v. AT Plastics Corp.

575 S.E.2d 683, 258 Ga. App. 884, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 3597, 2002 Ga. App. LEXIS 1524
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedNovember 26, 2002
DocketA02A1262
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 575 S.E.2d 683 (WABASH METAL PRODUCTS, INC. v. AT Plastics Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
WABASH METAL PRODUCTS, INC. v. AT Plastics Corp., 575 S.E.2d 683, 258 Ga. App. 884, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 3597, 2002 Ga. App. LEXIS 1524 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

Smith, Presiding Judge.

Brent Mitchell Dyer was injured while attempting to install a piece of heavy machinery at the partially completed manufacturing facility belonging to AT Plastics Corporation (AT Plastics). Dyer sued AT Plastics, the owner of the premises, and Wabash Metal Products, Inc. (Wabash), the manufacturer of the machine press that tipped over. Both defendants filed separate motions for summary judgment. Finding genuine issues of disputed fact remaining as to Wabash’s negligence, the trial court denied Wabash’s motion. The trial court, however, granted summary judgment to AT Plastics, finding that its failure to provide Wabash’s installation instructions to Dyer was not the proximate cause of Dyer’s injuries.

In this appeal, Wabash contends that, in the absence of evidence that the machine press was top-heavy or unstable, it had no duty to warn Dyer that the press could be tipped over. Alternatively ¿ Wabash argues that if it breached a duty to warn Dyer, then AT Plastics like[885]*885wise did so since AT Plastics failed to provide Dyer with Wabash’s shop manual, which included instructions and warnings pertaining to the installation of the press. We find no merit in either argument and affirm.

When viewed in the light most favorable to Dyer, as the nonmov-ant, the evidence shows that Dyer was injured when he and his supervisor, Hubert Rozier, were trying to install the machine press manufactured by Wábash and purchased by AT Plastics. At the time of the incident, Dyer was an employee of Mann Mechanical Company. KW&P, as the general contractor for the construction project, had engaged Mann Mechanical to serve as the subcontractor for the mechanical work. In its role as subcontractor, Mann Mechanical was responsible for the installation of all heavy machinery. Mann Mechanical received its instructions from KW&P, not AT Plastics.

Before shipping the press, Wabash had sent its customer, AT Plastics, a copy of the “Operation and Installation Manual” (O&I manual) for this particular machine press. Peter Connelly, the. project manager for AT Plastics, received a copy of that O&I manual. However, it is undisputed that this manual gives no wárning that the press is top-heavy or otherwise unstable. Nor does the O&I manual warn against the use of “cribbing” or recommend not using that method to move the press into position.1 It is also undisputed that Wabash did not attach any warnings or affix any instructions to the press about proper moving or installation.

The machine press arrived in May, and Dyer and Rozier tried to install it in August. In the meantime, the press was moved several times without incident. On August 2, 1998, Dyer and Rozier were working overtime at AT Plastics’s facility, which was still under construction. Both men were licensed journeyman pipefitters, and both had extensive experience in installing heavy equipment. Dyer testified that during his work as a pipefitter, he had helped lift, move, or transport thousands of pieces of heavy machinery. By Dyer’s own calculation, he had previously moved over 100 similar pieces of equipment in his 25-year career.

Rozier asked Dyer to assist him with setting the Wabash press into its designated location in a laboratory. At that time, the press was situated on a pallet jack. Dyer and Rozier then set about to remove the press from the pallet jack and to place the press into its intended location. The press weighed 1,597.2 pounds and had the shape of a rectangular box, standing approximately 74 inches high, 36 inches wide, and 23 inches deep. The press was designed to sit flush on the floor and did not have legs.

[886]*886The O&I manual was not with the press, and neither man sought to secure a copy of it or to consult with Wabash about how to move the press safely. Noting nothing unusual, Dyer and Rozier discussed the method they would use and decided to use cribbing to raise the machine, allow the removal of the pallet jack, and then lower the machine to the floor.

Dyer and Rozier raised the pallet jack and placed cribbing underneath each of the four corners of the press. Their plan was to move the press to the floor by gradually removing the wooden blocks, first on one end and then the other. Rozier had a seven-foot pinch bar, a device similar to an extremely long crowbar. Rozier succeeded in lifting the press enough to permit Dyer to remove the cribbing at one side, with the result that the press was no longer level. Intending to repeat the process on the opposite side, Rozier tried twice without success to step on the pinch bar to lift the press high enough to allow Dyer to remove the cribbing. Dyer asked Rozier to try a third time. Using an adjacent cabinet to brace himself, Rozier turned his back to the press and to Dyer and stepped down onto the pinch bar with his feet and “mashed it all the way down with my total weight.” Both Dyer and Rozier testified that at that point, the press suddenly toppled over, trapping Dyer’s right leg underneath.

Dyer sued Wabash, claiming that the press was defectively designed, and alleging that the press “was top-heavy and/or had a high center of gravity which caused it to fall on plaintiff during the installation process.” Dyer also alleged that Wabash was negligent in failing to adequately warn him about the danger inherent in moving and tilting the press during installation. Dyer sued AT Plastics for failing to warn him of the dangers and for failing to supply him with a copy of the O&I manual.

1. Wabash contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment. Wabash claims that the evidence shows that the press was not top-heavy, unstable, or an inherently dangerous piece of equipment to install. “[A] duty to warn can arise even if a product is not defective.” Battersby v. Boyer, 241 Ga. App. 115, 117 (526 SE2d 159) (1999).

A product is not in a defective condition when it is safe for normal handling and consumption. If the injury results from abnormal handling, the seller is not liable. Where, however, he has reason to anticipate that danger may result from a particular use, he may be required to give adequate warning of the danger, and a product sold without such warning is in a defective condition.

(Citations omitted.) Id. “Whether a duty to warn exists thus depends [887]*887upon foreseeability of the use in question, the type of danger involved, and the foreseeability of the user’s knowledge of the danger. Such matters generally are not susceptible to summary adjudication and should be resolved by a trial in the ordinary manner.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Yaeger v. Stith Equip. Co., 177 Ga. App. 835, 836 (341 SE2d 492) (1986). Moreover, the right to draw an inference of negligence lies peculiarly within the exclusive province of the jury. See Ogletree v. Navistar Intl. Transp. Corp., 271 Ga. 644, 647 (522 SE2d 467) (1999).

Here, both Wabash and Dyer offered conflicting testimony as to whether the press was stable and, therefore, safe for normal handling. Wabash’s director of engineering, Steven Michael, testified that nearly two-thirds of the weight of the press was located below its mid-point and that the vertical center of gravity was in the bottom of the machine. Michael specifically testified that the top half of the press weighed 596.2 pounds and the bottom half weighed 1,001 pounds. He concluded that the press was not top-heavy.

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WABASH METAL PRODUCTS, INC. v. AT Plastics Corp.
575 S.E.2d 683 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
575 S.E.2d 683, 258 Ga. App. 884, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 3597, 2002 Ga. App. LEXIS 1524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wabash-metal-products-inc-v-at-plastics-corp-gactapp-2002.