Sunday, November 10, 2013

Bowling v. Heil Co. case brief

Bowling v. Heil Co. case brief summary
511 N.E.2d 373 (1987)


CASE SYNOPSIS
Appellant, administratrix of husband's estate, sought review of judgment of Court of Appeals for Butler County (Ohio), which affirmed jury verdict finding appellee manufacturer negligent and strictly liable for husband's death, but remanded case for reduction of money judgment to that percentage of fault assigned to appellee by jury.

CASE FACTS
Appellant's husband died when he was crushed between the chassis of a truck and the truck's dump bed. Appellant, as administratrix of her husband's estate, proceeded against appellee, manufacturer of the truck bed and hoist systems, in negligence and strict liability, and against seller of the truck in strict liability. At trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of appellant and assigned fault among appellee, decedent and truck seller.

DISCUSSION
On appeal, the court affirmed the verdict, but remanded to reduce the judgment against appellee based on the contributory negligence of decedent and rejecting joint and several liability. On appeal, the court reinstated the judgment of the trial court finding contributory negligence was not applicable to a strict products liability action and holding Ohio's Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act, Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2307.31 and 2307.32, did not abolish the doctrine of joint and several liability.

CONCLUSION

The court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and reinstated the judgment of the trial court, which had assessed the entire money judgment against appellee, finding comparative negligence and comparative fault not applicable to a strict products liability action and upholding the doctrine of joint and several liability.

Suggested Study Aids For Tort Law

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