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Zaza v. Marquess and Nell5/9/1996
(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).
GERARDO ZAZA, ET AL. V. MARQUESS AND NELL, INC., ET AL. (A-63)
Argued January 3, 1996 -- Decided May 9, 1996
GARIBALDI, J., writing for a majority of the Court.
The issue on appeal is whether under the Products Liability Act (PLA) a component part fabricator that builds a system component in accordance with the specifications of the owner, which component is not dangerous until it is integrated into the larger system, can be held strictly liable to an injured employee for the failure of the owner, installer-assembler, and training consultant to install safety devices and provide warnings.
On January 28, 1990, Gerardo Zaza, an employee of Maxwell House Coffee (Maxwell House), was severely injured when hot molten water and carbon within a quench tank that he was attempting to repair overflowed and landed on his back, arms and upper extremities, causing second degree burns over twenty-one percent of his body. The quench tank is an integral component part of a large, complex manufacturing process -- the Maxwell House trecar-carbon regeneration system -- which is used to produce decaffeinated coffee beans.
The initial designs for the quench tank were prepared by Maxwell House and were submitted to the engineering firm of Marquess and Nell, Inc. (Marquess), who prepared the final design plans. Marquess contracted with International Sheet Metal and Plate Mfg., Inc. (International) for a fabricated quench tank. Maxwell House hired Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) to assemble and integrate the trecar-carbon regeneration system. Calgon Carbon Company (Calgon) was hired to prepare training materials on how to operate the system and to educate Maxwell House employees in the use of the system. William J. Merz, an engineer employed by Calgon, conducted a training session for Maxwell House employees on how to use the trecar-carbon regeneration system, including the quench tank. Zaza attended that training session.
The final plans and specifications for the trecar-carbon regeneration system incorporated three safety devices designed to avoid an overflow of the molten fluid out of the quench tank. These safety devices were to be installed by Maxwell House and Brennan. At the time Zaza was injured, however, the safety devices had not been installed because Maxwell House had decided to omit them. The specifications on which International bid for the quench tank did not require that International prepare or install any safety devices. The specifications required only that the fabricator cut holes in the stainless steel tank for the safety devices. When the tank was delivered to Maxwell House, professional installers had to connect piping to it before the quench tank became operational.
In June 1991, Zaza filed suit against Marquess, Calgon, Merz, Brennan and International. As to International, Zaza alleged that strict liability should be imposed because the quench tank was defectively designed and lacked adequate warnings. On International's motion for summary judgment, the trial court dismissed the claims against International, finding that International had performed as required under the specifications given to them by the designer; had no supervisory responsibility over installation; was not required to install the safety devices; and had no duty to warn intended users of the quench tank.
Zaza appealed to the Ap
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