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Kopczick v. Hobart Corp.11/30/1999
ility to cut various cheese products.
Charles Benedict, plaintiff's expert witness, opined that defendant must have known that the Model 5700 was an unreasonably dangerous product prior to plaintiff's 1993 injury . Benedict testified that the results of defendant's own 1981 tests should have put defendant on notice of the Model 5700's self-feeding defect. According to Benedict, "any competent engineer" would have been put on notice of the self- feeding defect by test results showing that the saw occasionally produced wedge cuts due to bowing of the saw's blade.
Benedict also found evidence of defendant's pre-injury knowledge of the Model 5700's self-feeding defect in a provision of the Model 5700's instruction manual which advises operators to use a four-tooth blade, rather than a three-tooth blade, when cutting specified types of meat. Benedict testified that the fewer the number of teeth, the greater the tendency for the blade to self-feed. Therefore, in Benedict's opinion, instructing operators to use a four-tooth blade, rather than a three- tooth blade, was an effort to remedy or ameliorate the Model 5700's self-feeding defect.
Benedict also testified that he considered a warning label affixed to the Model 5700 and a warning included in the saw's instruction manual to be further evidence of defendant's pre-injury knowledge of defect. The label affixed to the Model 5700 includes the phrase "slant blade requires less feed effort" among the hazards listed under the caption "WARNING." In the Model 5700's instruction manual, defendant cautions the reader in the following manner: "WARNING: MACHINES WITH THE INCLINED BLADE PATH REQUIRE LESS FEED EFFORT." According to Benedict, these admonitions constitute defendant's tacit acknowledgment of the self- feeding defect.
In addition, Benedict stated his opinion that defendant violated the "Hierarchy of Design Responsibilities" (HODR), an industry wide ethical standard which defendant had adopted as company policy. The HODR requires a manufacturer to eliminate safety hazards by design whenever possible before resorting to safety guards and warnings. According to Benedict, defendant could have eliminated the hazard posed by the Model 5700's self-feeding defect by simply reverting to a straight saw design.
Benedict also testified that defendant's July 13, 1983, test results show that the Model 5700 does not enjoy any performance or efficiency advantage over the Model 5701. Furthermore, according to Benedict, the fact that the Model 5700 lacks any advantage over the Model 5701 reveals the falsity of defendant's advertising claims that the Model 5700 reduces operator fatigue.
Dan Weber, a former employee of defendant, testified that defendant's "records retention schedule" provides that documents falling under the rubric "PROJECTS -- ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATION" should be retained by the engineering department for 15 years. Weber also testified that it was defendant's policy that there be written reports of "field tests," i.e., tests whereby a representative of defendant would elicit feedback concerning a new product from selected operators. Weber testified that field test reports generally consisted of one or two lines summarizing the operators' comments concerning the new product. Weber also testified that the policy of reducing field test findings to writing was not "heavily enforced."
Evidence of record also showed that defendant currently charges approximately $500 more for the Model 5700 than the Model 5801, its latest model straight saw. In addition, there was evidence that defendant produces "far more" Model 5801s than Model 5700s, resulting in a higher per-unit cost of production for the
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