Williams v. Super Trucks, Inc.

842 So. 2d 1210, 2003 WL 1825178
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 9, 2003
Docket36,993-CA, 36,994-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 842 So. 2d 1210 (Williams v. Super Trucks, Inc.) 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
Williams v. Super Trucks, Inc., 842 So. 2d 1210, 2003 WL 1825178 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

842 So.2d 1210 (2003)

Jerrilyn WILLIAMS and Todd Williams, Plaintiff/Appellee,
v.
SUPER TRUCKS, INC., Ford Motor Company, White & Babin Ford Company, Inc., William C. Martin, & Derrell Graham Chevrolet, Inc., Defendants/Appellees.
Glen F. Post, Jr., Plaintiffs/Appellants,
v.
Super Trucks, Inc., Ford Motor Company, White & Babin Ford Company, Inc., William C. Martin, & Derrell Graham Chevrolet, Inc., Defendants/Appellees.

Nos. 36,993-CA, 36,994-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 9, 2003.

*1213 Dollar Laird, L.L.P., by Johnny E. Dollar, Monroe, for Appellants.

David F. Post, Farmerville, for Appellee, Glen F. Post, Jr.

McCranie, Sistrunk, Anzelmo, Hardy, Maxwell & McDaniel, P.C., by Robert W. Maxwell, Keith W. McDaniel, Lance B. Williams, Metairie, for Appellee, Ford Motor Company.

Stanley Kendrick Hurder, Baton Rouge, for Intervenor/ Appellee, Louisiana State Employees Group Benefits Plan.

Before WILLIAMS, PEATROSS & MOORE, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

This appeal arises from a jury verdict in favor of the defendant, Ford Motor Company, *1214 finding that Ford was not liable to plaintiffs, Jerrilyn Williams and Todd Williams, individually and as natural tutrix and tutor, respectively, of the minor Jeremy Williams, and Glen Post, Jr. (collectively "Plaintiffs"), and dismissing Plaintiffs' claims against Ford with prejudice. Plaintiffs now appeal the judgment of the trial court. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

FACTS

On November 24, 1990, Mr. Glen Post, Jr. was driving his 1977 Ford Bronco ("Bronco") north on Louisiana Highway 549 near Famerville, Union Parish, Louisiana, when his vehicle collided with a Chevrolet Camaro driven by Mrs. Jerrilyn Williams who was headed south on the same highway. It was determined that suddenly, and without warning, the left rear axle on the Bronco snapped completely in two, causing the left rear wheel and part of the axle to break free from the vehicle. The loss of the wheel caused the Bronco to cross over the center line and collide with the Camaro driven by Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Williams and her son, Jeremy Williams, who was also in the car, were both injured. Mrs. Williams sustained several serious injuries, including disfigurement, lacerations, multiple fractures, contusions, abrasions and a crushed knee and ankle. Jeremy sustained lacerations, contusions and embedded glass in his head. Mr. Post was also injured, sustaining several serious injuries, including contusions, abrasions and a fracture to his right femur. The Bronco was a total loss. Neither Mr. Post nor Mrs. Williams were determined to be at fault in the accident.

The trial judge found that the reason the axle on the Bronco snapped in two was because of negligent repair work done to the vehicle at Super Trucks, Inc. in West Monroe. A cutting torch, applying extreme heat, was used to replace the bearings on the rear of the vehicle and the use of the torch weakened the axle of the vehicle, causing it to fail and the wheel to fall off the vehicle while it was in motion. On July 16, 1991, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, both individually and on behalf of their son Jeremy, filed suit against, among others, Super Trucks, Inc. ("Super Trucks") and Ford Motor Company ("Ford"). On July 25, 1991, Mr. Post filed suit against these same Defendants. Plaintiffs alleged that Ford was responsible for design defects in the Bronco, inadequate warnings and other acts of fault and negligence.[1] In particular, Plaintiffs argued that the warning in the 1977 Ford shop manual was inadequate. The warning stated:

If the wheel bearing is to be replaced, the inner retainer ring must first be loosened. Never apply heat to do this. (Emphasis added.)

In addition, Plaintiffs alleged, inter alia, that Super Trucks was responsible for failing to use proper repair procedures on the vehicle. In 1998, the trial court consolidated the two lawsuits.

On April 30, 2001, trial commenced. At trial, the records from Super Trucks showed that Matt Prophit, a mechanic, made repairs to the Bronco on July 26, 1990, replacing both wheel bearings at the rear of the vehicle by using a cutting torch, applying heat to the axle. In his deposition,[2] Mr. Prophit stated that there were two ways to remove old wheel bearings, either with a cutting torch or a press. He was only trained in the method of *1215 removing wheel bearings with a cutting torch. He stated that he had not read the shop manual which contained the warning not to apply heat and that no one ever told him not to use a cutting torch. Lionel Reed, however, owner of Super Trucks, disputed Mr. Prophit's statements and testified at trial that he required his mechanics to use a press to remove wheel bearings and not to use a cutting torch.

Dr. Paul Packman testified at trial for Plaintiffs and he was tendered and accepted as an expert in the fields of metallurgical design, failure analysis and warnings. He worked extensively for the steel companies that produce the steel used in axles like the axle used on the Bronco. Dr. Packman testified that, had there been a warning on the axle itself, in all likelihood heat would not have been applied to it during repair. He was certain that, if the heat had not been applied by the cutting torch to the axle, the accident would not have occurred. Dr. Packman testified that the axle failure was caused through a chain reaction of events. First, when the bearing was removed, heat was applied to remove the bearing unevenly with attempts to cut through the bearing. The heating process changed the metallurgical structure of the steel in the axle causing "auto-quenching."[3] When the axle is properly manufactured, it has a tough outer edge; but with heat applied, the structural integrity is destroyed. Dr. Packman testified that, once the axle becomes cracked, it is unreasonably dangerous with no failsafe mechanism.

Dr. Packman concluded that the heat required to change the metallurgical structure came from a cutting torch. With the axle having a crack caused by heating, the fatigue crack grew across the surface leading to the ultimate failure and the loss of a wheel in an accident. Dr. Packman testified that Ford was aware that the torch-cutting technique was commonly used; that it would create an unreasonably dangerous situation; and the instruction to not apply heat to the axle in Ford's shop manual was not really a warning at all. He suggested that a warning to not apply heat should have been placed on the axle; however, he admitted that he made no study of how such a warning would hold up to the corrosion experienced by the axles in everyday use and he acknowledged that an inscribed warning on the axle could induce failure in the axle. Dr. Packman also acknowledged that he had no way of telling whether an etching on the axle could actually survive Ford's manufacturing process.

James Varin testified on behalf of Ford and was accepted by the trial court as an expert in the areas of automotive engineering and metallurgical failure analysis. He stated that he had worked with, and for Ford, for many years and had previously been a supervisor of design and light truck braking, steering and suspension design activity. He was also a principal design engineer for design development and testing of axle assembly. He noted that more than 200 million similar axles were manufactured by Ford. Mr. Varin testified that the physical evidence submitted showed that heat had been applied to the axle on the Bronco during repair.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
842 So. 2d 1210, 2003 WL 1825178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-super-trucks-inc-lactapp-2003.