Zepik v. Ceeco Pool & Supply, Inc.

118 F.R.D. 455, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11504, 1987 WL 23270
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedNovember 12, 1987
DocketNo. S85-291
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 118 F.R.D. 455 (Zepik v. Ceeco Pool & Supply, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zepik v. Ceeco Pool & Supply, Inc., 118 F.R.D. 455, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11504, 1987 WL 23270 (N.D. Ind. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MILLER, District Judge.

On April 28, 1986, this court granted summary judgment to Pleasure Industries, one of several defendants in this action for personal injuries resulting from plaintiff Ronald Zepik’s tragic dive into a shallow swimming pool. Zepik v. Ceeco Pool and Supply, Inc., 637 F.Supp. 444 (N.D.Ind.1986). Eleven motions now pend before the court. These matters have long been ripe for ruling. For the reasons that follow, the court finds that summary judgment is proper with respect to the claims against defendants Frost Company and Polynesian, Inc., and that the claims against Loren’s Pool & Supply, Inc. must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

I. FACTS

On June 20, 1983, Ronald Zepik and his friend, Sally Adrian, went to visit Glen and Linda Davis at their home. During that visit, the Davises invited Mr. Zepik and Ms. Adrian to go swimming. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have an in-ground pool in their backyard, which Mr. Davis constructed in the spring of 1982 with the assistance of defendant Loren’s Pool & Supply, Inc. At approximately 8:45 p.m., Mr. Zepik left the pool and headed toward the Davis’ house, then turned, ran toward the pool, and dived [458]*458into the pool. Although no one actually saw the contact, it appears that, upon entering the pool, Mr. Zepik struck his head on the bottom of the pool, as a result of which he was rendered a quadriplegic.

Mr. Davis constructed the Davis pool with direction and assistance of Loren’s Pool & Supply. All materials used in the construction were purchased from Loren’s Pool. Loren’s Pool & Supply did the excavation work and helped Mr. Davis install the liner. Mr. Davis performed all the other work. The completed pool is octagonal in shape, twenty-four feet in circumference, and approximately four feet deep.

The materials used in constructing the Davis pool were not manufactured by the same source; the parties disagree as to which manufacturer provided what product. Mr. Zepik contends, and the court assumes for purposes of the pending motions, that the list of the products and their respective manufacturers is as follows:

Wall panels
Skimmer returns pump filter
Ladder
Liner
Pipe
Clamps
Coping
- Polynesian, Inc.
- Hayward Pool
Products, Inc.
- Frost Company
- Tidewater Midwest, Inc. (formerly Ceeco Pool & Supply)
- Pleasure Industries
- Bowman Distribution, Barnes Group, Inc.
- Polynesian, Inc.

(Defendant Loren’s Pool and Supply, Inc., answer to interrogatories filed in Cause No. 83-PSC-3246, Porter Superior Court.)

Mr. Zepik brings this products liability action seeking to recover for his resulting injuries. Mr. Zepik alleges that the defendants manufactured and/or sold the pool and/or the pool’s component parts. Mr. Zepik’s complaint is based on theories of negligence, strict liability, willful and wanton misconduct, and breach of express and implied warranties. Counts VI and VII of Mr. Zepik’s complaint allege a violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S. C. § 2051 et seq., by failing to inform the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“the Commission”) of a substantial product hazard, namely that a swimming pool may be defective for failure to warn users that diving into shallow water may result in serious spinal injury. Mr. Zepik further contends that the defendants’ failure to so inform the Commission was based on a fraudulent and deceitful intent.

Jurisdiction is based on the federal question presented by the alleged violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”). 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Jurisdiction over the negligence and products liability counts presumably is pendent to the federal question jurisdiction.

II. PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ORAL ARGUMENT

Mr. Zepik has requested oral argument on all pending motions. The parties have presented very thorough written argument, however, and oral argument would simply delay disposition further. Accordingly, the motion for oral argument is denied.

III. THE MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendant Loren’s Pool & Supply, Inc. (“Loren’s”) has moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and (6). Relying on a recent Eighth Circuit opinion in Drake v. Honeywell, Inc., 797 F.2d 603 (1986), Loren’s argues that Mr. Zepik’s claims under the CPSA must fail because the CPSA creates no private right of action for violation of its reporting provisions. Loren’s maintains that once the CPSA claims are dismissed, Mr. Zepik’s asserted basis for federal jurisdiction fails with respect to the remaining claims. Mr. Zepik and Loren’s both are citizens of the State of Indiana; no alternate diversity basis for jurisdiction would exist.

In Drake, the Eighth Circuit held that the failure to comply with product hazard reporting rules issued by the Commission does not give rise to a private cause of action under the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2072(a). Drake v. Honeywell, Inc., 797 F.2d at 606, disagreeing with Wilson v. Robertshaw Controls Co., 600 F.Supp. 671 (N.D.Ind.1985); Payne v. A.O. Smith Corp., 578 [459]*459F.Supp. 733 (S.D.Ohio 1983); Young v. Robertshaw Controls Co., 560 F.Supp. 288 (N.D.N.Y.1983); Butcher v. Robertshaw Controls Co., 550 F.Supp. 692 (D.Md.1981); and Swenson v. Emerson Electric Co., 374 N.W.2d 690 (Minn.1985), cert. denied 476 U.S. 1130, 106 S.Ct. 1998, 90 L.Ed.2d 678 (1986).

The Drake decision is contrary to that reached by this court’s April 28, 1986 order, where, relying on Wilson v. Robert-shaw Controls Co., 600 F.Supp. 671, the court found that a private cause of action existed for violations of the disclosure requirements of 15 U.S.C. § 2064. Zepik v. Ceeco Pool and Supply, Inc., 637 F.Supp. 444, 451 (N.D.Ind.1986). The Drake opinion was not available to this court when it made its prior ruling.

The Seventh Circuit has not considered whether the CPSA creates a private cause of action such as that asserted by Mr. Zepik, but has said, “Although decisions of other circuits are not necessarily controlling, the district courts should give them substantial weight. This is especially true when they specifically reject decisions from other district courts that the district court seeks to rely on.” Richards v.

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Bluebook (online)
118 F.R.D. 455, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11504, 1987 WL 23270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zepik-v-ceeco-pool-supply-inc-innd-1987.