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Leong v. Sears Roebuck and Company12/14/1998
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM ORDER CERTIFYING QUESTION TO THE SUPREME COURT OF HAWAII
The plaintiff-appellee Doris C.C. Leong (Leong), individually and on behalf of Kamalii Leong (Kamalii), filed a complaint in the first circuit court against the defendant/third-party plaintiff-appellant Sears Roebuck and Company (Sears), alleging, inter alia, products liability, negligence, the infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages, arising out of an accident in which Kamalii was injured by an escalator at the Sears Department Store at Ala Moana Center, in the City and County of Honolulu. Sears removed the action to the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (federal district court) and subsequently filed a third-party complaint against the third-party defendants-appellants Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Westinghouse) and Schindler Elevator Corporation (Schindler), seeking indemnification and/or contribution from Westinghouse and/or Schindler in the event that Leong was found to be entitled to recovery. Westinghouse and Schindler answered and counterclaimed. Leong filed a cross-claim against Westinghouse and Schindler. Westinghouse and Schindler answered and counterclaimed.
Westinghouse and Schindler then filed a motion for summary judgment as to all of the claims alleged by Leong in her complaint and cross-claim. Sears joined in the motion. Following the hearing on Westinghouse and Schindler's motion for summary judgment, the federal district court, pursuant to Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule 13 (1995), certified the question " hether an escalator in a commercial building accessible to the general public constitutes a product for purposes of a claim for strict products liability under Hawaii law?" We accepted certification and now answer the question with a qualified "yes."
I. BACKGROUND
The underlying facts are not disputed. On or about January 3, 1996, Leong's preschool daughter, Kamalii, was injured when her hand became caught on the handrail return component of the escalator, which descends from the mall level to the ground level of the Sears Department Store. The escalator was manufactured and installed in 1959. In her complaint against Sears, filed on April 9, 1996, and likewise in her counterclaim against Westinghouse and Schindler, filed on January 31, 1997, Leong alleged, inter alia, that Sears, Westinghouse, and Schindler were liable, pursuant to a theory of products liability, for the damages resulting from the accident.
On May 5, 1997, Westinghouse and Schindler, the alleged manufacturer and distributor of the escalator, filed a motion for summary judgment as to all of Leong's claims alleged in her complaint and cross-claim. On May 21, 1997, Sears joined in the motion. The hearing on the motion generated the question that is presently before us.
II. DISCUSSION
Sears, Westinghouse, and Schindler argue that such decisions as Bidar v. Amfac, Inc., 66 Haw. 547, 669 P.2d 154 (1983), Armstrong v. Cione, 69 Haw. 176, 738 P.2d 79 (1987), Messier v. Association of Apartment Owners of Mt. Terrace, 6 Haw. App. 525, 735 P.2d 939 (1987), and Kennedy v. Vacation Internationale, Ltd., 841 F. Supp. 986 (D. Haw. 1994), compel the Conclusion that the escalator at issue in the present case, being an item or fixture that is an integral part of a building, is not a "product" for purposes of Hawaii strict products liability law. This court, however, has construed the term "product" on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the policies underlying the doctrine of strict products liability. Accordingly, it is useful to retrace the development of strict products liability law in Hawaii in orde
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