Fall 2004 Products Liability Update
By Stephanie McCaffity

Wausau Underwriters Ins. Co. v. General Electric Co., 2004 WL 1471987 (Tex.App.- Hou. [1st Dist.], July 1, 2004). 

Holding: Court affirms summary judgment granted by district court holding that Wausau as real party in interest for Wal-Mart had no claim for indemnity from General Electric, who was not a Defendant in the original products liability lawsuit.

Clifton Hall suffered permanent burn injuries.  He received these injuries as a result of a fire in his grandparents' home which started because of a defective extension cord.

A lawsuit was filed on Clifton's behalf while he was a minor.  Woods Industries ("Woods"), the extension cord's alleged manufacturer, and Wal-Mart were sued.  Wausau insured Woods and Wal-Mart (listed as an "also insured").  The case was settled- Wausau paid $10 million on Woods behalf and $5 million on Wal-Mart's behalf.

Thereafter, Wausau filed a subrogation lawsuit as real party in interest for Wal-Mart against General Electric ("GE") seeking indemnity.  GE was not a defendant in the original lawsuit and Wausau now claimed that GE manufactured the extension cord.  The court of appeals affirmed the district court's order granting summary judgment on GE's behalf finding that Wal-Mart had obtained complete indemnity from Woods.  Further,  Wausau stood in the shoes of Wal-Mart and receiving indemnity from GE would constitute a double recovery as Wal-Mart had already been made whole. 

Daimler Chrysler Corporation v. Hillhouse, 2004 WL 1195687 (Tex.App.- San Antonio, June 2, 2004).

Holding: Court reversed and rendered jury verdict awarding parents damages for injuries child sustained due to an airbag deployment in favor of manufacturer.

Lise Hillhouse rear-ended a car while driving her minivan, which had 3 rows of seats.  Her nine year old daughter Ashlee was in the front seat and her other two children were in the middle row of seats at the time of the accident.  The back row of seats was empty.  The airbag deployed and injured Ashlee. 

A lawsuit was filed with marketing and design defect claims.  The jury awarded to the Plaintiffs damages, including $500,000 in future medical expenses.

The court of appeals found that the Plaintiffs failed as a matter of law to prove that any failure to warn was a cause of the damages.  Specifically, there was a warning that stated "CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER CAN BE KILLED BY THE AIR BAG."  Lise testified that she had read the warning.  Accordingly, the marketing defect claim failed.

Further, the court of appeals found that the evidence was legally sufficient to support a finding that depowering the airbag would "under other circumstances, impose an equal or greater risk of harm" from the injuries caused by the accident.  Therefore, the design defect claim failed.   

The court of appeals reversed the jury's findings and rendered a take-nothing judgment in favor of DaimlerChrysler.  

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