RAYMOND COX AND PATTY COX, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
R.O. CORPORATION, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1985-06-11
No. 84-1754
Before NESBITT, DANIEL S. PEARSON, and FERGUSON, JJ.
470 So. 2d 790 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1985) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this product liability case, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict (JNOV) for the manufacturer of a truck-mounted crane and remanded for new proceedings. The court held that competent evidence supported the jury's finding that the crane's lack of a warning device for outrigger deployment constituted negligent design, and the trial court improperly substituted its judgment for the jury's verdict.


Holding

The court held that the trial court erred in entering judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict because competent evidence existed supporting the plaintiffs' negligent design claim, and conflicting evidence on material issues must be submitted to the jury rather than resolved by the judge as a matter of law.


Headnotes

[1] A jury verdict should not be overturned by a judgment notwithstanding the verdict if there is any competent evidence presented to the jury tending to prove the issue.

[2] If evidence is conflicting or admits of different reasonable inferences, the issue should be submitted to the jury as a question of fact, not decided by the judge as a qu…

Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“In reviewing the judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict, the test is whether there was any competent evidence presented to the jury by plaintiffs tending to prove the issue.”

Establishes the legal standard for reviewing JNOV motions in product liability cases.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

R.O. Corporation manufactured a crane mounted on a flatbed truck equipped with four hydraulic outriggers that deployed 27 inches in less than five sec…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
FERGUSON, Judge.

FERGUSON, Judge.

Plaintiffs appeal from a final judgment for defendant notwithstanding a jury verdict which found defendant one hundred percent liable in a product liability action.

Defendant, R.O. Corporation, manufactured a crane mounted to a flatbed truck. For stability while lifting, the machine came equipped with four outriggers, one on each side, at the front and rear, which deployed out hydraulically twenty-seven inches from under the flatbed and to the ground. The foot of each outrigger consisted of a one-half inch steel plate approximately twelve inches square. The outriggers, which deployed in less than five seconds with the truck engine running, were not equipped with an audible warning device to warn those working in the vicinity of deployment.

On the date of the accident the truck-crane was driven to the warehouse of Zel-ner Electric Co., Mr. Cox’s employer, for purposes of unloading six large spools of electrical wire and numerous smaller items. It was customary to deploy the outriggers to crane-lift heavy items, such as the large spools, after the smaller items were first manually removed from the flatbed. Mr. Cox was still unloading the smaller items when a co-worker, suddenly and without warning, lowered the outriggers. Mr. Cox’s left foot was crushed by the right rear outrigger as it hit the surface of the parking lot.

Plaintiff and his wife sued R.O. alleging negligent design and manufacture of a defective truck-crane because of, among other things, failure to equip the machine with a warning signal or device which would alert persons in the vicinity of the outriggers that the outriggers were in operation. The case proceeded to jury trial.

Plaintiffs’ expert testified that a $50 device, in use elsewhere, which warns workers in the area when the outriggers are about to be deployed would have prevented the accident. The defendant’s experts testified that the machine was free from manufacturing defects and that a warning device was neither reasonable nor required.

Although the trial court’s written judgment for the defendant is void of reasons for taking away the jury verdict, defendant makes the argument that plaintiff’s injury was caused by his own negligence in the face of an “obvious” danger, citing Cohen v. General Motors Corp., 427 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983), where a summary judgment for the manufacturer was affirmed. Cohen is distinguishable on the facts. In that case, the harm-producing force — movement of the auto — was activated by the intentional release of an emergency brake by plaintiff in reliance on the vehicle operator’s mistaken belief that the transmission was in the park position. It was obvious in that case that releasing the brake while the car was running and in gear was dangerous. It was not obvious to plaintiff in this case that the outriggers would be deployed prematurely while he performed his normal duties of manually removing small items from the truck.

In reviewing the judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict, the test is whether there was any competent evidence presented to the jury by plaintiffs tending to prove the issue. Hendricks v. Dailey, 208 So. 2d 101 (Fla.1968). Since there was such evidence, even though conflicting, the trial court should not have substituted its view of the evidence for that of the jury. “If the evidence is conflicting, or will admit different reasonable inferences, or if there is evidence tending to prove the issue, it should be submitted to the jury as a question of fact, and not be taken from them to be passed upon by the judge as a question of law.” Cf. Dandashi v. Fine, 397 So. 2d 442 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (directed verdict for defendant improper).

Defendant’s motion for new trial arid motion for remittitur, which were filed along with the motion for judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict, may be considered on remand. See Navarro v. City of Miami, 402 So. 2d 438 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981).

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Sta-Rite Indus., Inc. v. Levey, 909 So. 2d 901 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)
    …horrendous consequences which might follow, we conclude that this theory is well sustained by the evidence. See Perry v. Red Wing Shoe Co., 597 So. 2d 821 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Jones v. Heil Co., 566 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Cox v. R.O. Corp., 470 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). [*904] Sta-Rite’s primary contention to the contrary was that such a device was not reasonably available to a pump manufacturer when this one was sold to the apartment owner. See Cavanaugh v. Skil Corp., 164 N.J. 1, 751 A. 2d 518…
  • Popular Bank OF Fla. v. R.C. Asesores Financieros, 797 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)
    …directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict and correctly submitted this issue to the jury. See Collins v. School Bd. of Broward County, 471 So. 2d 560 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), unit dismissed, 491 So. 2d 280 (Fla.1986); Cox v. R.O. Corp., 470 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Maximo Moorings Marine Ctr., Inc. v. Walke, 196 So. 2d 215 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967); see also Hendricks v. Dailey, 208 So. 2d 101, 103 (Fla.1968). Popular Bank alternatively contends that the trial court reversibly erred by denying it…
  • Rimes v. H.F. Mason Equip. Corp., 483 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
    …mediate vicinity of the cab of the imminent rotation of the cab constitutes a defective condition which was a proximate cause of the death of the plaintiff’s decedent. See West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla.1976); Cox v. R.O. Corp., 470 So. 2d 790 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Martinez v. Clark Equipment Co., 382 So. 2d 878 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). Reversed and remanded.…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw