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Wysowaty v. J.C. Penney Co.5/5/2000
DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
This is an appeal from an order of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, granting summary judgment to a product manufacturer and retailer in a suit which alleged unfair dealings by an insurer and a building contractor, neither of whom was made a party to the suit. Because we conclude that summary judgment was proper, we affirm.
Appellants are William Wysowaty and the estate of his late wife, Nancy Wysowaty. In 1993, the Wysowatys purchased an electric blanket in a store owned by appellee J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; the blanket was manufactured by appellee Sunbeam Corporation. The day the Wysowatys began to use the electric blanket a fire broke out in their bedroom, causing extensive damage to their home. The Wysowatys' homeowner's insurer, Western Reserve Casualty Company ("Western Reserve"), covered the loss which was in excess of $70,000.
In November 1995, just short of the second anniversary of the fire, Western Reserve, as subrogee of appellants' claim, initiated a products liability suit in state court alleging that the fire and subsequent damage were caused by the faulty design or manufacture of the electric blanket. William Wysowaty, as the named insured on the homeowners policy issued by Western Reserve, was included as a plaintiff in the suit for the purpose of recouping his $100 deductible. In December 1995, the case moved to federal court.
On January 5, 1996, William Wysowaty sought to amend the complaint by adding Nancy Wysowaty as a plaintiff and by alleging various unfair dealings and misrepresentation against Western Reserve Insurance, the insurance adjuster hired by Western Reserve, and the contractor who performed the repairs on the Wysowatys' home. The federal court rejected the Wysowatys' motion, concluding that Nancy Wysowaty was barred from her products liability claim when she failed to sue or seek to be joined to the suit prior to the expiration of Ohio's two-year products liability statute of limitations. With respect to William Wysowaty's additional claims, the court found that these
constituted essentially, " * a dispute between a policyholder and his insurance company" and did not involve the, " * same transaction, occurrence or core of operative facts involved in the original complaint." As a result, the federal court ruled, " * it would be inappropriate for him to be allowed to bring claims against the current defendants for these additional injuries." In subsequent motions to reconsider, the federal court reiterated its denial of the Wysowatys' motion to amend.
Eventually, Western Reserve and appellees settled the suit. When appellees tendered to William Wysowaty the $100 he claimed in the unamended complaint, he was permitted to dismiss his case without prejudice. A subsequent appeal of the federal district court's order denying appellants' motion to amend proved unavailing. Western Reserve Mut. Cas. Co. v. J.C. Penney Co. (C.A.6 1998), 165 F.3d 30.
On April 22, 1998, appellants instituted the suit underlying this appeal in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, with the filing of a complaint that was identical to the amended complaint disallowed by the federal court. Neither appellants' insurer, Western Reserve, its adjustor, nor the contractor who performed the allegedly faulty work on appellants' home were named in the new suit.
Appellees answered the complaint by denying the allegations and raising several defenses including res judicata, collateral estoppel, statute of limitations bar and failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Appellees then
moved for summary judgment, reasserting their issue and claim preclu
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