 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Benjamin v. Wal-Mart Stores12/26/2002
Argued and submitted June 5, 2002.
Affirmed.
Charles Schoggins died while sleeping in a closed tent that was heated by a Coleman Focus 15 propane heater. Plaintiff, Schoggins's daughter and the personal representative of his estate, initiated this wrongful death action against defendant The Coleman Company, Inc. Coleman, asserting claims for product liability and negligence. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff on both claims, awarding $336,000 in economic damages and $433,000 in non-economic damages. Coleman appeals, asserting nine assignments of error. We affirm.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
We begin with a general description of the relevant facts and leave to our discussion of each assignment of error the recitation of any additional facts that are relevant to those assignments. We take the facts from the record, viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the party in whose favor the jury returned its verdict. McCathern v. Toyota Motor Corp., 332 Or 59, 62, 23 P3d 320 (2001).
Schoggins was a carpenter who lived in Bend. In October 1996, he was hired to work on a project in Philomath. For the first few days that he was at the work site, Schoggins slept in his car. A contractor on the job , David Anaya, slept in a nearby tent, which he intermittently warmed with a Coleman Focus 15 propane heater. Affixed to an upper portion of the heater was a decal approximately two and one-fourth inches wide and three inches high. The decal stated in part: "WARNING: FOR OUTDOOR USE ONLY. Never use inside house, camper, tent, vehicle or other unventilated or enclosed areas."
On the night of October 15, Anaya, his wife, and their two young daughters fell asleep in their tent while the Focus 15 heater was operating. Anaya woke about an hour later and discovered that his daughters were convulsing. He turned the heater off, opened the tent's windows, and carried the girls out of the tent. Neither he nor his wife was affected. At that time, Anaya assumed that the girls' symptoms were caused by carbon monoxide produced by the heater.
The next morning, as Anaya was preparing to return to Bend, Schoggins asked him to leave his tent and heater at the work site for Schoggins to use. Anaya agreed to do so. Anaya told Schoggins that, the previous night, his children had had convulsions and that he thought the heater might have had something to do with that reaction. Anaya told Schoggins to take care of the heater and said, "don't die in my tent." He said it "jokingly," and Schoggins replied with a chuckle. Anaya later recalled that, if he actually had had concerns about Schoggins's safety, he would not have let Schoggins use the heater.
That same day, Schoggins and a framer on the project, Dooms, received and cashed their paychecks. Schoggins, Dooms, and a third person, Falk, then went to a tavern where they ate lunch and drank "at least three or four pitchers" of beer between them. Around 4:00 p.m., Falk bought a case of beer; Schoggins drank "at least" one can on the way back to the work site. Around 9:30 p.m., Dooms went to his tent with Anaya's propane heater, which he lit and set on "high." Around 11:00 or 11:30 p.m., Schoggins came to Dooms's tent and got the heater. Schoggins took the heater to his tent, zipped himself and the heater inside, and apparently fell asleep. The next morning, he was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Plaintiff initiated this action. As pertinent here, in her second amended complaint, she alleged that Coleman engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of Coleman heaters, that the Anayas purchased a
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Oregon Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
By using the system, you agree to TERMS OF SERVICE
|