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ROSE v. FIGGIE INTL.12/5/1997
This is a product liability action arising from an incident in which a nozzle assembly of a fire extinguisher spontaneously exploded and separated from the canister. It caused a cloud of chemicals to disperse in Margaret Rose's apartment which allegedly harmed Rose. She sued the manufacturer of the fire extinguisher, Figgie International, Inc., whose motion in limine was granted so as to exclude evidence of similar spontaneous explosions of the same model extinguisher and to exclude evidence of Figgie's subsequent recall of the extinguisher for a manufacturing defect that caused spontaneous explosions. At Rose's request, the court also excluded evidence of psychiatric and psychological evaluations of Rose, which diagnosed Rose as suffering from psychiatric disorders that caused her to create or exaggerate her physical symptoms. In this interlocutory appeal we hold that the trial court erred in granting both motions in limine.
Case No. A97A1495
Since 1980, Figgie has designed, manufactured, marketed, and sold a fire extinguisher known as the American LaFrance Model P-250MA. Figgie admits that in some of the fire extinguishers it manufactured between August and October of 1985, the threads on the collar or spud of the extinguishers were slightly out of tolerance, meaning the diameter of the hole into which the valve was screwed was larger than it should have been. This manufacturing defect would sometimes result in the nozzle assembly spontaneously exploding and separating from the canister, the contents of which were under 190 psi of pressure. Figgie's representative testified that unless an extinguisher was improperly cross-threaded when being recharged, or had been struck sideways with sufficient force to damage the valve, the defective threading was the only reasonable explanation for a spontaneous explosion and valve separation.
Figgie's records show that by May of 1990 it had received notice of over fifty incidents of spontaneous valve separation explosions involving this model. Later that month Captain Irvine of the DeKalb County Fire Department notified Figgie that four of this model had recently exploded in DeKalb County. Figgie made no public announcements or warnings at that time.
During the night of September 4, 1990, as Rose and her children slept in their DeKalb County apartment, the nozzle assembly on their Figgie fire extinguisher model P-250MA spontaneously exploded and separated from the canister. Rose inhaled the chemicals released by the explosion while she evacuated her children from the apartment and made phone calls to get help. She alleges she suffered permanent lung damage as a result. The day following the incident, a maintenance employee of the apartment complex disposed of the exploded extinguisher without the knowledge or consent of Rose or Figgie.
In May 1991, Figgie issued a notice recalling its model P-250MA extinguishers manufactured during the August through October 1985 time period and specified the serial numbers, including the serial number of Rose's extinguisher. The basis for the recall, which references Rose's and the four other explosions in DeKalb County, was the valve threading defect.
Rose sued Figgie, asserting strict liability, negligent manufacture, breach of warranty, and failure to warn. She also sought punitive
damages. Figgie moved to exclude evidence of the fifty other incidents of spontaneous explosions and of the recall notice. Ruling to exclude other-incident evidence, the court explained orally that without the extinguisher Rose could not establish that the other extinguishers were substantially similar, for she could not prove that hers had the same manufacturing defect as the
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