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Kopczick v. Hobart Corp.11/30/1999
Plaintiff, Richard Kopczick, filed a complaint seeking damages from defendant, Hobart Corporation, for injuries he sustained while using a meat saw manufactured by defendant. Following a jury trial, the trial court entered judgment against defendant for $20 million in punitive damages and $553,644.74 in compensatory damages. On appeal, defendant contends, inter alia, that the trial court erred: (1) by denying defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict concerning the punitive damages award; (2) by denying defendant's motion for a new trial due to the misconduct of plaintiff's counsel; and (3) by granting plaintiff an excessive compensatory damages award. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the punitive damages award, but affirm the trial court's judgment in all other respects.
Initially, we note that defendant raises claims of error with respect to punitive damages other than the claim previously stated. Because we agree with defendant that the evidence is insufficient to warrant imposition of punitive damages, we need not address these other claims. Moreover, because defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting an award of compensatory damages, we recount and scrutinize only those portions of the trial court proceedings relevant to the imposition of punitive damages, the episodes of alleged misconduct by plaintiff's counsel, and the amount of compensatory damages.
FACTS
The "vertical" or "straight" meat saw (the straight saw) is a motorized bandsaw with its blade set perpendicular to the saw's cutting surface. This design is, and has always been, the conventional design for a meat saw. Defendant is a leading manufacturer of commercial food- processing equipment, including meat saws. In 1979, defendant began developing a meat saw with its blade set at a 75-degree angle to the cutting surface. Defendant's engineers theorized that this 15-degree difference would reduce operator fatigue by introducing a horizontal force assisting operators to push meat through the saw. This design became known as the "horizontal" or "slant" saw (the slant saw). In January 1982, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) gave its approval to the slant saw. In its report, UL specifically found that the slant saw's horizontal force does not cause the saw to self-feed. In July 1982, defendant introduced the new design to the marketplace as its Model 5700. From 1982 through 1992, defendant sold 5,816 Model 5700s. During this period, it is a conservative estimate that meatcutters employed the Model 5700 to make 4,540,080,000 cuts of meat. Defendant continues to market the Model 5700.
D & S Foods (D & S) purchased a Model 5700 in 1983. Plaintiff is a journeyman meatcutter and the meat-market manager for D & S. On the morning of May 22, 1993, plaintiff severed his left index finger and lacerated his left middle finger while operating the Model 5700 owned by D & S. Plaintiff filed a complaint seeking recovery from defendant for his injuries. Ultimately, as amended, the complaint consists of one count of negligence and one count of willful and wanton conduct. Common to both counts is the allegation that the design of the Model 5700 presents the user with an unreasonably dangerous condition, namely: the tendency of the Model 5700's angled blade to jerk, pull, and roll meat into the blade causing the operator to sustain injury when his hands are drawn into the blade along with the meat. In count I, plaintiff alleges that defendant's manufacture and sale of the Model 5700 was merely negligent. In count II, plaintiff alleges that defendant's conduct constitutes a willful and wanton disregard for, and indifference to, his safety, entitling him to puni
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