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Dover Elevator Co. v. Swann3/25/1994
Opinion by Chasanow, J.
We are called upon once again to analyze the multifarious doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. As Chief Judge Orth once exclaimed for the Court of Special Appeals, "ever since 1863 when a barrel of flour rolled out of a warehouse window in England and injured a person passing on the public street, the thing has been attempting to speak for itself...." C & P Tel. Co. v. Hicks, 25 Md. App. 503, 509, 337 A.2d 744, 748, cert. denied, 275 Md. 750 (1975). The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur has also been described as "'a thing of fearful and wonderful complexity and ramifications, and the problems of its application and effect have filled the courts of all our states with a multitude of decisions, baffling and perplexing alike to students, attorneys and judges.'" Meda v. Brown, 318 Md. 418, 422, 569 A.2d 202, 204 (1990)(quoting William L. Prosser, Res Ipsa Loquitur in California, 37 Calif. L. Rev. 183, 183 (1949)).
In the case before us, we shall address the theory of res ipsa loquitur in the context of injuries sustained by the plaintiff, David Swann, as a result of an allegedly misleveled elevator car. The two issues presented by the defendant-petitioner, Dover Elevator Company, are summarized as follows:
1.
May the plaintiff, who has proffered direct evidence of the specific cause of his injuries, also rely on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in order to establish the defendant's negligence?
2.
If res ipsa loquitur was an appropriate basis for finding the defendant negligent, did the trial judge err in failing to so instruct the jury and, if so, was that error harmless?
For the reasons stated below, we shall reverse the decision of the Court of Special Appeals. See Swann v. Prudential Ins., 95 Md. App. 365, 620 A.2d 989 (1993).
I. Facts
The plaintiff, David Swann, was injured on February 2, 1987, while attempting to board an elevator that allegedly failed to level properly with the floor. The elevator (designated "elevator number two") is in an office building located at 2277 Research Boulevard in Rockville, Maryland. The building is owned by Prudential Insurance Company of America, managed by Carey Winston Company and leased by IBM, Swann's employer and the building's sole tenant. Elevator number two was manufactured, installed and exclusively maintained by the petitioner, Dover Elevator Company. With the exception of IBM, all of the above-listed organizations were named as defendants in this action.
Upon entering elevator number two, Swann stumbled (but did not fall) and struck his back on the rear wall of the elevator car. The elevator was allegedly "somewhere around a foot" or "somewhat greater than about a foot" lower than the level of the floor from which Swann entered the elevator. At the time Swann entered the elevator car, he was conversing with a coworker, Murtha Donovan, Jr. According to Donovan, Swann did not see the level of the elevator car as he entered it because the two coworkers were looking at each other as they conversed. Donovan entered the elevator car immediately after Swann without incident.
On November 21, 1988, Swann filed a complaint against Prudential Insurance Company of America and Dover Elevator Company in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. The complaint alleged that Swann suffered $3,000,000.00 in damages as a result of the defendants' negligence and defects in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of elevator number two. By an amended complaint, Swann included
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