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Jimenez v. Superior Court Of San Diego County8/1/2000
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
PETITION for peremptory writ of mandate and/or prohibition challenging orders of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Thomas R. Murphy, Judge. Petition granted.
In this opinion we conclude manufacturers of defective windows installed in mass-produced homes may be subject to strict products liability. In reaching our conclusion, we disagree with the contrary holding in Casey v. Overhead Door Corp. (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 112 (Casey).
Petitioners Filipina and Nestor Jimenez (Plaintiffs) filed a petition for a peremptory writ of mandate and/or prohibition seeking reversal of the trial court's orders granting the summary adjudication motions of Real Parties in Interest T.M. Cobb Company (Cobb) and Viking Industries, Inc. (Viking, and together with Cobb, Defendants). Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred by relying on Casey to conclude that as a matter of law Defendants, who manufactured allegedly defective windows installed in Plaintiffs' home, were not subject to strict products liability. We grant the petition.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs own a home in the Galleria subdivision of 82 single family homes in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego. McMillin Scripps II (McMillin) apparently was the developer of the Galleria subdivision. McMillin also was the developer of the Renaissance subdivision of 86 single family homes in the Scripps Ranch area. McMillin entered into a contract with Minnoch Supply Co. (Minnoch) to supply and install windows and glass doors in at least some of the Renaissance homes. Cobb designed and manufactured aluminum frames, windows and glass doors installed by Minnoch. McMillin also apparently entered into a contract for the installation of windows manufactured by Viking in certain homes in the Galleria and Renaissance subdivisions.
The windows installed in the Galleria and Renaissance homes leaked and caused damage to the homes. Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and other Galleria and Renaissance homeowners, filed a class action complaint against Defendants, Minnoch and Medallion, alleging causes of action for strict products liability and negligence. The complaint alleged Defendants, Minnoch and Medallion "designed, developed, manufactured, produced, supplied and placed into the stream of commerce the defective windows" and that the windows "failed due to defective design, development, and manufacturing, causing property damage."
Cobb filed a motion for summary adjudication on the strict products liability cause of action. Cobb argued Casey held that, absent a special relationship with the developer of the homes, a manufacturer of windows or other components installed in mass-produced homes as a matter of law has no strict products liability to the homeowner. Cobb submitted a separate statement of undisputed material facts in which it stated it did not have a special relationship or any agreement with McMillin.
Plaintiffs opposed Cobb's motion for summary adjudication, arguing that Casey was incorrectly decided and factually distinguishable. They argued Cobb, as a manufacturer of component parts of mass-produced homes, placed defective windows in the stream of commerce and should be subject to strict products liability. They further argued triable issues of material fact existed that precluded summary adjudication. Plaintiffs submitted a separate statement of facts in which they stated that Cobb's windows were defectively designed and manufactured and "caused damage to other parts of the Plaintiffs['] homes, including stucco, insulation, framing, drywall, paint, wall coverings, floor coverings, baseboards, and other parts of the homes."
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