Nance et al v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Incorporated et al
Filing
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ORDER granting in part and denying in part 74 Motion for Summary Judgment. See order for details. Signed by Senior Judge Frederick J Martone on 9/22/2014.(LMR)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.; Toyota)
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Motor Corp.; Takata Corp.,
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Defendants.
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Patricia Nance, et al.,
No. CV-13-8011-PCT-FJM
ORDER
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The court has before it defendants’ motion for summary judgment (doc. 74), plaintiffs’
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response (doc. 76), and defendants’ reply (doc. 79).
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I.
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This is a products liability action arising out of a single vehicle rollover crash that
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occurred on September 19, 2010 in Coconino County, Arizona. Decedent Kevin Nance was
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driving a 1999 Toyota 4Runner southbound on Forest Service Highway 505 outside of
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Flagstaff. He lost control of his vehicle, causing the vehicle to roll multiple times. Although
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he stayed strapped into his seatbelt, at some point during the crash, decedent’s head struck
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the ground, possibly through the sun roof, causing severe head trauma, resulting in his death.
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There were no eyewitnesses to the crash.
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Plaintiffs, decedent’s statutory beneficiaries, filed this action under Arizona’s
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wrongful death statute, asserting claims for strict products liability, negligence, breach of
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warranty, and punitive damages. On December 30, 2013, we denied plaintiffs’ motion to
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amend the Rule 16 scheduling order to extend the time for plaintiffs to disclose their expert
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witnesses. (Doc. 40). We held that plaintiffs failed to show either good cause or excusable
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neglect to excuse the untimely filing. Because plaintiffs did not timely disclose an expert,
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they may not use an expert in their case-in-chief. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c)(1).
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Defendants filed this motion for summary judgment arguing that all of plaintiffs’
claims fail as a matter of law.
II.
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Defendants first argue that because plaintiffs have no expert for their case-in-chief,
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they cannot prove their strict products liability or negligence claims. A manufacturer is
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strictly liable for injuries caused by the use of any product that was in a “defective condition
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unreasonably dangerous.” Dart v. Wiebe Mfg., Inc., 147 Ariz. 242, 244, 709 P.2d 876, 878
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(1985) (citing Restatement (Second) Torts § 402A (1965)). Therefore, to prevail on their
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claim for strict products liability, plaintiffs “must show the product was in a defective
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condition that made it unreasonably dangerous, the defective condition existed when the
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product left the defendant’s control, and the defective condition proximately caused the
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plaintiffs’ injuries.” State Farm Ins. Co. v. Premier Manufactured Sys. Inc., 213 Ariz. 419,
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426, 142 P.2d 1232, 1239 (Ct. App. 2006).
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Similarly, plaintiffs’ negligence claim requires proof that the product was in a
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defective condition and unreasonably dangerous. Mather v. Caterpillar Tractor Corp., 23
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Ariz. App. 409, 411, 533 P.2d 717, 719 (Ct. App. 1975). Plaintiffs must also show that
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defendants failed to use reasonable care in the design of their product, and the negligence
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proximately caused plaintiffs’ injuries. Id.; Golonka v. General Motors Corp., 204 Ariz. 575,
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581, 65 P.3d 956, 962 (Ct. App. 2003).
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Defendants argue that plaintiffs cannot prove their claims for strict products liability
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and negligence because they have no evidence that the seatbelt was in a defective,
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unreasonably dangerous condition. They argue that expert testimony is required to show
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defect and causation, and because plaintiffs have no expert, they cannot prove their claims.
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Arizona courts have developed two tests to determine whether a product was in a
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defective condition and unreasonably dangerous—the “consumer expectation test” and the
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“risk/benefit analysis” test. Dart, 147 Ariz. at 244-45, 709 P.2d at 878-79. Under the
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consumer expectation test, a plaintiff must show that the product “failed to perform as safely
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as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or reasonable manner.” Id.
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at 245, 709 P.2d at 879. “No expert testimony is necessary to establish a design defect under
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the consumer expectation test because the test focuses on the safety expectations of an
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ordinary consumer rather than those of an expert.” Long v. TRW Vehicle Safety Sys., Inc.,
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796 F. Supp. 2d 1005, 1010 (D. Ariz. 2011) (quotation omitted); Martinez v. Terex Corp.,
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241 F.R.D. 631, 641 (D. Ariz. 2007); Dietz v. Waller, 141 Ariz. 107, 110, 685 P.2d 744, 747
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(1984) (holding that plaintiffs “must be permitted to rely upon circumstantial evidence alone
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in strict liability cases”).
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The consumer expectation test has limited application in design defect cases where
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“the consumer would not know what to expect, because he would have no idea how safe the
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product could be made.” Dart, 147 Ariz. at 244, 709 P.2d at 878. In such cases, “courts
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additionally or alternatively employ the risk/benefit analysis to determine whether a design
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is defective and unreasonably dangerous.” Golonka, 204 Ariz. at 581, 65 P.3d at 962.
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Under a risk/benefit analysis, a plaintiff must prove, in light of relevant factors,
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whether “the benefits of [a] challenged design . . . outweigh the risk of danger inherent in
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[the] design.” Id. (alterations in original, citation omitted). If the benefits do not outweigh
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the risks, the design is defective and unreasonably dangerous. Id.
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Defendants contend that the design and performance of a seatbelt system in the
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context of a rollover crash is highly technical and not within the understanding of an ordinary
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consumer. Therefore, defendants argue that only the risk/benefit analysis is applicable in this
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case. Motion at 9. We disagree.
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If the facts are such that a “consumer may form an expectation” about how safe a
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product could be made, the consumer expectations test applies. Dart, 147 Ariz. at 246, 709
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P.2d at 880. In other words, the consumer expectation test is applicable where “the ordinary
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consumer, through the use of a product, has developed an expectation regarding the
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performance safety of the product.” Long, 796 F. Supp. 2d at 1010 (quoting Brethauer v.
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General Motors Corp., 221 Ariz. 192, 198, 211 P.3d 1176, 1182 (Ct. App. 2010)).
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In Arizona, the consumer expectation test applies to claims that seatbelts were
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defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous when they failed to restrain belted
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passengers. In Brethauer, the Arizona Court of Appeals recognized that “a seat belt is a
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familiar product whose basic function is well understood by the general population.” 221
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Ariz. at 200, 211 P.3d at 1184. “[M]ost consumers use seatbelts daily and are familiar with
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their single, safety-related function: keeping belted passengers restrained within a vehicle.”
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Id. By their daily use of seatbelts, ordinary consumers have developed an expectation
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regarding the safety performance of seatbelts. Therefore, the consumer expectations test
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applies in this case. It is for the jury to decide whether ordinary consumers expect that
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properly functioning seatbelts will keep a passenger’s head inside a vehicle during a rollover
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crash.
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We reject defendants’ argument that this case is distinguishable from Brethauer and
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Long because the passengers in those cases were fully ejected from the vehicles, whereas
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here only decedent’s head hit the pavement. Defendants describe the relevant inquiry as
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“how much occupant excursion is permissible for a properly functioning seat belt during a
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high speed, severe, rollover crash.” Reply at 3. Regardless of whether the facts involve full
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or partial ejection, however, most consumers expect that a seatbelt’s “single, safety-related
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function,” is to “keep[] belted passengers restrained within a vehicle.” Brethauer, 221 Ariz.
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at 200, 211 P.3d at 1184. Ordinary consumers could reasonably expect that a seatbelt should
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restrain a passenger’s body within the confines of the vehicle.
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Similarly, plaintiffs can prove causation under either strict liability or negligence by
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showing that decedent’s head trauma resulted from a defect in the design of the seatbelt,
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which allowed his head to protrude outside an opening in the vehicle. The proximate cause
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of an injury is defined as “that which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any
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efficient intervening cause, produces an injury, and without which the injury would not have
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occurred.” Robertson v. Sixpence Inns of Am., Inc., 163 Ariz. 539, 546, 789 P.2d 1040,
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1047 (1990). A defect causes an injury if it helps produce the injury, and if the injury would
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not have happened without the defect. A plaintiff “need only present probable facts from
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which the causal relationship may be inferred. Id.
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Citing a medical malpractice case, defendants contend that plaintiffs need expert
See Benkendorf v. Advanced Cardiac Specialists
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testimony to establish causation.
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Chartered, 228 Ariz. 528, 269 P.3d 704 (Ct. App. 2012). But there is no requirement under
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Arizona law that expert testimony be given in a products liability action. Dietz, 141 Ariz.
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at 110, 685 P.2d at 747. Instead, a jury could reasonably infer in this case that a design
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defect in the seatbelt proximately caused decedent’s injuries.
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Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ strict products liability and
negligence claims is denied.
III.
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Defendants also seek summary judgment on plaintiffs’ claim for breach of express and
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implied warranties. Plaintiffs claim that defendants expressly and impliedly warranted to
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each buyer and user that the vehicle was reasonably fit and safe for its intended purpose, and
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that the vehicle was of merchantable quality. Defendants contend that they are entitled to
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summary judgment because plaintiffs have failed to show either an express warranty or
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privity between decedent and defendants.
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Under Arizona law, privity of contract is required to maintain an action for breach of
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an implied warranty. Chaurasia v. General Motors Corp., 212 Ariz. 18, 24, 126 P.3d 165,
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171 (Ct. App. 2006). Purchasers who buy vehicles from dealerships and other third parties
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are not in privity of contract with manufacturers. Id. Plaintiffs have made no effort to
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establish either that decedent bought the vehicle from defendants, or that there was otherwise
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privity between decedent and defendants. Nor do plaintiffs attempt to identify an express
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warranty that applies to the subject vehicle. Therefore, plaintiffs have failed to support their
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claims for breach of warranties. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’
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breach of warranty claims is granted.
IV.
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Plaintiffs concede they have no evidence to support their punitive damages claim.
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Reply at 11; Plfs’ Resp. to Def’s SOF ¶ 18 (doc. 77 at 9). Defendants’ motion for summary
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judgment on the claim for punitive damages is granted.
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V.
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IT IS ORDERED GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART defendants’
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motion for summary judgment (doc. 74). Summary judgment is granted on plaintiffs’ claims
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for breach of express and implied warranties and for punitive damages. Summary judgment
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is denied on plaintiffs’ claims for strict products liability and negligence.
DATED this 22nd day of September, 2014.
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