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Campagna v. Clark Grave Vault Co.11/25/2003
.Plaintiffs-appellants, Antonio W. Campagna, JoAnne Campagna, Joseph Campagna, Zeb Campagna, Christian Campagna, and Nicole Campagna, appeal from a decision of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting the motion of defendants-appellees, Clark Grave Vault Company and CTL Steel, for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
.Plaintiff, Antonio Campagna (hereinafter "Campagna"), was a truck driver for MacRan Corporation. On May 5, 1997, Campagna entered defendants' business premises in Columbus, Ohio, for the purpose of loading steel that would be transported for his employer. After the steel was loaded onto Campagna's flatbed truck in defendants' loading bay area, Campagna began to secure the steel. Prior to securing the load, Campagna was directed to proceed out of defendants' building in order to facilitate the loading of other vehicles. Campagna exited the building and began to work on securing the load in the east lot, just outside the loading bay. Once again, Campagna was directed to move his flatbed truck because his truck remained an obstruction. Still in the east lot, Campagna ultimately positioned his truck next to a wire fence. Defendants did not provide Campagna with a ladder or platform while he was in the east lot. The east lot itself contained various obstacles, such as oil barrels, pallets, and a fire hydrant. In addition, the ground in the east lot was not perfectly level, considering the existence of gravel and dirt, undulations on the surface, and the alleged slope.
.Because of the close proximity of the fence to the truck, Campagna was unable to secure the load with straps and winches. Employing an acceptable alternative to securing with straps, Campagna began to use chains to secure the load. In order to tighten the chains, Campagna used ratchet binders. Because of "the way [the steel] was situated on the truck," Campagna had to climb on the bed of the truck in order to tighten the ratchet binders. (Tr. 85.) Campagna ran out of ratchet binders and began using snap binders.
.Campagna was attempting to "snap" a snap binder when the tragic event, which gave rise to this litigation, occurred. Using three breaker bars, which were connected together, Campagna attempted to snap the snap binder. A breaker bar "turned over" and Campagna was "shot" off the truck bed; Campagna landed on his left side. As a result of this fall, Campagna suffered significant and extensive physical injury.
.On May 4, 1999, plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that plaintiffs incurred damages, including personal injury and loss of consortium, as a result of defendants' negligence. On May 24, 1999, defendants filed an answer denying any and all liability to plaintiffs alleged in the complaint. After discovery, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted this motion, finding no factual basis to support a duty owed to Campagna and no breach of duty, even if there was a duty to Campagna. Because the trial court found no duty or breach of duty, it held that the damages to plaintiffs could not have been proximately caused by the acts of defendants.
.Plaintiffs subsequently appealed to this court from the decision of the trial court granting defendants' motion for summary judgment. In Campagna v. Clark Grave Vault Co. (June 28, 2001), Franklin App. No. 00AP-605 (hereinafter "Campagna I"), this court reversed the lower court's granting of summary judgment for defendants on the basis that there remained genuine issues of material fact. The court reasoned that because it found that defendants owed a duty to Campagna as a business invitee, it was error for the trial court to grant summary judgment "while genuine issues of materia
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