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Baale v. Sunset Homes3/15/2000
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Larry J. Eisenhauer, Judge.
Plaintiff appeals from the district court judgment entered following a jury verdict in defendant's favor in plaintiff's personal injury action. AFFIRMED.
Curtis J. Krull of Roehrick, Hulting, Blumberg, Kirlin & Krull, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant. Samuel C. Anderson of Swisher & Cohrt, P.L.C., Waterloo, for appellee.
Michael Van Baale worked for a company that subcontracted for Midland Homes, Inc. While working on a home, Van Baale fell off the roof. He sued Midland, asserting the general contractor failed to furnish appropriate safeguards. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Midland. Following denial of his motion for new trial, Van Baale appealed. He contends the district court erred in: (1) permitting Midland to designate and use an expert on Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) standards; (2) allowing evidence of OSHA and industry standards; (3) refusing to preclude evidence of industry standards for failure of Midland to plead avoidance, justification or excuse as affirmative defenses; and (4) refusing to grant a new trial based on claimed insufficiency of the evidence. We affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
All Seasons Mechanical, Inc. performed heating and cooling work for Midland on housing projects in Ames. Van Baale was a supervisor for All Seasons. On February 15, 1995, freezing rain mixed with snow began to fall. The following morning, Van Baale told the framing subcontractor he intended to perform some flue work on the roof. The framer testified he advised Van Baale against it, in light of the ice. Van Baale climbed onto the roof, but slipped off and broke bones in his right leg.
Van Baale filed a negligence lawsuit against Midland on February 14, 1997. On July 30, 1997, the district court signed a scheduling order agreed to by the parties. The order set the following deadlines: January 16, 1998 for Van Baale's designation of experts; March 20, 1998 for Midland's designation of experts; July 17, 1998 to file pleadings; and August 17, 1998 for trial to begin. Van Baale only designated his treating physician as an expert. Midland did not designate any experts within the time frame set by the scheduling order.
On July 17, 1998, Van Baale moved to amend his petition to add a breach of contract claim based on violation of OSHA standards. Ten days later, Midland filed a motion in limine. Midland sought to preclude Van Baale from introducing evidence of OSHA standards, on the ground he did not timely designate an expert witness to lay a foundation for introduction of the standards. Midland alternately sought to continue the trial to permit Midland to retain its own expert. On August 4, 1998, Midland designated an OSHA expert.
On the morning of trial, the district court heard oral argument on Midland's motions. The court overruled the motions, agreed to take judicial notice of the OSHA standards Van Baale sought to introduce, and permitted Midland's expert witness to testify regarding the applicability of the standards. Van Baale did not call a rebuttal witness to respond to the opinions of Midland's expert.
II. Expert Testimony
We review a district court's ruling on admission of expert testimony for abuse of discretion. Klein v. Chicago Cent. & Pac. R.R. Co., 596 N.W.2d 58, 60 (Iowa 1999).
A. Timeliness of Designation
Van Baale asserts the district court should have excluded Midland's OSHA expert because Midland did not timely designate the expert. He premises his argument on Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure 125 and 136. We will address e
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