WILBERT SANCHEZ AND EMILY SANCHEZ, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
HUSSEY SEATING COMPANY, A FOREIGN CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1997-09-12
No. 96-4860
JOANOS, WOLF and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur.
698 So. 2d 1326 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1997) Positive Treatment
Cited by 13 cases

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Synopsis

Wilbert Sanchez was injured by an exposed steel support on a portable bleacher system and sued the manufacturer for negligence and strict liability. The appellants challenged the trial court's refusal to modify the jury instruction to include "bystander" language, arguing it could mislead the jury about strict liability coverage for non-users. The court affirmed, finding no reversible error because the defendant never made the plaintiff's user status an issue at trial.


Holding

The court held that no reversible error occurred because the trial court has discretion in jury instructions, and the requested amendment did not relate to any issue actually presented to the jury. Although Florida law establishes that strict liability applies to foreseeable bystanders as well as users, the modification was unnecessary here since the defendant did not argue that the plaintiff's non-user status barred recovery.


Headnotes

[1] Strict liability applies to injuries to foreseeable bystanders as well as users of a product.

[2] A manufacturer is strictly liable in tort when a product placed on the market, known to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes injury…

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Key Quotes

“We therefore hold that a manufacturer is strictly liable in tort when an article he places on the market, knowing that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes injury to a human being. This doctrine of strict liability applies when harm befalls a foreseeable bystander who comes within range of the danger.”

Establishes that strict liability doctrine extends to foreseeable bystanders, not just users of the product

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Facts & Procedural History

Wilbert Sanchez was injured while playing table tennis when he came into contact with exposed rear steel supports of a portable bleacher system manufa…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Wilbert and Emily Sanchez appeal an adverse final judgment in their negligence and strict liability action against Hussey Seating Company. Wilbert Sanchez was injured when, while playing table tennis, he came into contact with the exposed rear steel supports of a portable bleacher system manufactured by Hussey, which the owner was storing with the rear supports exposed contrary to the recommendations of the manufacturer’s representative. Appellants argue that reversible error occurred when, at trial, the trial court denied their request to amend Florida Standard Jury Instruction (Civ.) PL 51 by inserting the words “or bystander,” or alternatively, “or person likely to be in the vicinity of the product,” after the word “user” in the second paragraph of the instruction. We find no reversible error and affirm.

In West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., Inc., 386 So. 2d 80 (Fla.1976), the supreme court made it clear that the doctrine of strict liability applied to injuries to foreseeable bystanders as well as a user of the product. Specifically, the court held:

We therefore hold that a manufacturer is strictly liable in tort when an article he places on the market, knowing that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes injury to a human being. This doctrine of strict liability applies when harm befalls a foreseeable bystander who comes within range of the danger. Id. at 92.

We agree with appellants that the subject Florida Standard Jury Instruction as written might be misleading in the event a defendant-manufacturer argued to the jury that an injured bystander or other foreseeable member of the public within the vicinity of the defendant’s product could not recover under strict liability because the plaintiff was not a “user” of the defective product. That circumstance is not present in this ease, however. Here, Hussey did not make Sanchez’s status as a “user” an issue before the jury. No one argued that Sanchez should be denied recovery because he was not a “user” of the bleachers when he was injured. Instead, it is clear from the record that the case turned on the question of whether the product was used as intended by the manufacturer or as reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer. Decisions regarding jury instructions rest within the sound discretion of the trial court, and reversible error is committed when jury instructions are “ ‘reasonably calculated to confuse or mislead’ the jury.” Goldschmidt v. Holman, 571 So. 2d 422, 425 (Fla.1990), quoting Florida Power & Light Co. v. McCollum, 140 So. 2d 569 (Fla.1962). After a thorough review of the entire record, because the requested instruction did not relate to an issue presented to the jury, we are satisfied that there was no “reasonable possibility that the jury could have been misled by the failure to give the instruction.” Goldschmidt, 571 So. 2d at 425; see Emory v. Florida Freedom Newspapers, 687 So. 2d 846, 847 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997).

AFFIRMED.

JOANOS, WOLF and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur. . Hussey’s requested jury instruction number six, which was given by the trial court, was taken verbatim from Florida Standard Jury Instruction (Civ.) PL 5:

The issue for your determination on the strict liability claim of the Plaintiffs, WILBERT SANCHEZ and EMILY SANCHEZ, his wife, against Defendant, HUSSEY SEATING COMPANY, is whether the telescopic bleacher, model 2000, sold by HUSSEY SEATING COMPANY, was defective when it left the possession of HUSSEY SEATING COMPANY and, if so, whether such defect was a legal cause of injury or damage sustained by the Plaintiffs, WILBERT SANCHEZ and EMILY SANCHEZ, his wife.

A product is defective if by reason of its design the product is in a condition unreasonably dangerous to the user and the product is expected to and does reach the user without substantial change affecting that condition.

A product is unreasonably dangerous because of its design if the product fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used as intended or in a manner reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer or the risk of danger in the design outweighs the benefits.

(emphasis supplied).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Force v. Ford Motor Co. & Mazda Motor Corp., 879 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
    …estate-merit (Third) of Torts. . Two other cases of limited applicability are Zimmer, Inc. v. Birnbaum, 758 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 786 So. 2d 1193 (Fla.2000), which concerned the two-issue rule, and Sanchez v. Hussey Seating Co., 698 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997), which concerned a manufacturer’s liability to by-standers. In both cases the consumer-expectation instruction was given to the jury by the trial court, but no analysis of the correctness of the instruction per se was provided.…
  • …. v. McCollister, 480 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). *When the injured person is a bystander, use the language in the second pair of brackets. See West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., Inc., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla.1976), and; Sanchez v. Hussey Seating Co., 698 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). **When defense issues are to be submitted, use the charge contained within this second pair of brackets. In other cases, use the first bracketed sentence instead. COMMENT 1. Privity. These charges on product liability issues…
  • …., 336 So. 2d 80, 89 (Fla.1976) (“Injury to a bystander is often feasible. A restriction of the doctrine to the users and consumers would have to rest on the vestige of the disappearing privity requirement.”). See also Sanchez v. Hussey Seating Co., 698 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). When there is an issue regarding whether the presence of bystanders was foreseeable, additional instructions may be needed. 3.This instruction retains the consumer expectations test and the risk/benefit test for product defect,…

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