AI Case Brief
Generate an AI-powered case brief with:
Estimated cost: $0.001 - $0.003 per brief
Full Opinion
Connie MIKOLAJCZYK, Indiv. and as Special Adm'r of the Estate of James Mikolajczyk, Deceased, Appellee,
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY et al., Appellants.
Supreme Court of Illinois.
*332 Winston & Strawn LLP, and Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC, Chicago (James R. Thompson, Bruce R. Braun, Scott P. Glauberman, Pei Yuan Chung, Karen Kies DeGrand, Mark H. Boyle and William P. Ferranti, of counsel), for appellants Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation.
Bruce R. Pfaff and Michael T. Gill, of Pfaff & Gill, Ltd., Chicago, for appellee.
Jeffrey S. Hebrank, Misty L. Wuebbels, of Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank, True & Noce, LLC, Edwardsville, for amicus curiae Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel.
James A. Spizzo, Thomas A. Baker and Michael J. Waters, of Vedder Price Kaufman & Kammholz, P.C., Chicago, for amici curiae Illinois Manufacturers' Association and National Association of Manufacturers.
Stephanie A. Scharf and Mary Ann Becker, of Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Scharf, Chicago, for amicus curiae Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc.
Jeffrey W. Sarles, Erika Z. Jones and Adam C. Sloane, of Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago (John T. Whatley and Nancy Elizabeth Bell, Washington, D.C., of counsel), for amicus curiae Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Inc.
James P. Costello, of Costello, McMahon & Burke, Ltd., Chicago, for amicus curiae Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
OPINION
Justice GARMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion:
James Mikolajczyk died of injuries sustained when the Ford Escort he was driving was struck from behind by another vehicle. His widow, as special administrator of his estate, sued the other driver, claiming negligence, and Ford Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation, claiming defective design of the driver's seat. Summary judgment was entered against the other driver. The claims against the other two defendants proceeded to a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County. The jury found defendants liable and awarded plaintiff $2 million in damages for loss of money, goods, and services, and $25 million for loss of society.
The appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part. Mikolajczyk v. Ford Motor Co., 369 Ill.App.3d 78, 307 Ill.Dec. 201, 859 N.E.2d 201 (2006). This court denied defendants' petition for leave to appeal, but remanded the matter to the appellate court with instructions to reconsider in light of Calles v. Scripto-Tokai Corp., 224 Ill.2d 247, 309 Ill.Dec. 383, 864 N.E.2d 249 (2007). On remand, the appellate court again affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding the damages awarded for loss of society to be excessive and remanding to the circuit court for a hearing on the proper amount of remittitur. 374 Ill.App.3d 646, 312 Ill.Dec. 441, 870 N.E.2d 885. This court granted defendants' petition for leave to appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 315 (210 Ill.2d R. *333 315) to determine whether the trial court erred by instructing the jury on the consumer-expectation test and rejecting defendants' tendered instruction on the risk-utility test for defective design. In addition, we allowed plaintiff's petition to seek cross-relief on the damages issue.
We have permitted the Products Liability Advisory Council, Inc., the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and the National Association of Manufacturers, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Inc., to file briefs amici curiae on behalf of the defendants. We have also permitted the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association to file a brief amicus curiae on behalf of the plaintiff. 210 Ill.2d R. 345.
BACKGROUND
On February 4, 2000, William Timberlake shared two pints of gin with a friend before getting behind the wheel of his Cadillac. He was traveling approximately 60 miles per hour when he smashed into the rear of a 1996 Ford Escort that was stopped at a red light. The driver of the Escort, James Mikolajczyk, suffered severe, irreversible brain trauma and spent several days on life support before his death. His daughter, Elizabeth, then aged 10, who was asleep in the backseat at the time of the accident, suffered two broken legs. James was also survived by his wife, Connie, and son, Adam, then aged 14.
Plaintiff's negligence suit against defendant Timberlake resulted in the entry of summary judgment. Plaintiff's lawsuit against defendants Ford and Mazda alleged strict product liability premised on defective design of the driver's seat of the Escort. Specifically, she claimed that as a result of the defective design of the seat, it collapsed when the car was struck from behind, causing James to be propelled rearward and to strike his head on the backseat of the car. Plaintiff further alleged that the design of the seat was unreasonably dangerous and that the design defect proximately caused James's death. The Escort was manufactured by defendant Ford. The seat was designed by defendant Mazda; Ford had the authority to approve or disapprove the design.
The trial testimony is summarized in detail in the appellate court opinion. 374 Ill.App.3d at 650-53, 312 Ill.Dec. 441, 870 N.E.2d 885. For purposes of this appeal, it is necessary to note only that the evidence included testimony by expert witnesses for both parties regarding the risks and benefits posed by the "yielding" seat (referred to as the CT20 design), its compliance with federal safety requirements, the availability and feasibility of a rigid seat, the risks and benefits posed by the rigid seat design, and the seat designs employed in other makes and models of cars manufactured in 1996.
The trial court instructed the jury using plaintiff's tendered versions of Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, Nos. 400.01.01 (setting out the plaintiff's claim of defective design and the defendants' denials), 400.02 (setting out the plaintiff's burden of proof and the elements of a claim for strict liability), and 400.06 (defining the expression "unreasonably dangerous"). Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, Nos. 400.01.01, 400.02, 400.06 (2006) (hereinafter IPI Civil (2006)). The trial court rejected defendants' tendered nonpattern jury instructions that would have specifically instructed the jury to consider the "overall safety" of the design, whether the foreseeable risks of harm of the design outweighed its benefits, and whether the adoption of a feasible alternative design would have avoided or reduced the risks. Defendants argued unsuccessfully that this instruction should be given either instead of or in addition to instruction 400.06.
*334 The jury answered the following special interrogatory in the affirmative: "Was the driver's seat of the Mikolajczyk car in an unreasonably dangerous condition that was a proximate cause of James Mikolajczyk's death?" The jury then returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and awarded $2 million in damages for loss of money, goods, and services and $25 million for loss of society. The jury assigned 60% of fault to Timberlake and 40% to Ford and Mazda.
The appellate court rejected defendants' argument that the jury was improperly instructed, but reversed the judgment in part, finding the $25 million award for loss of society excessive. 374 Ill.App.3d at 674, 312 Ill.Dec. 441, 870 N.E.2d 885.
Before this court, defendants argue that the appellate court "turned back the evolution of Illinois law" by applying the "outdated" consumer-expectation test rather than the risk-utility test that, they assert, is now the exclusive test for defective design of a complex product. In the alternative, they argue that even if this court has not expressly adopted risk-utility as the exclusive test in such cases, it should do so now. In effect, they argue that the trial court applied the wrong substantive law to plaintiff's claim, raising this issue in the context of the trial court's refusal to give their non-IPI jury instruction. Defendants also argue that a new trial must be granted in any event because the jury instructions that were given did not correspond to the evidence presented at trial.
Plaintiff argues that the appellate court erred by finding the $25 million award for loss of society excessive and remanding for a new hearing on defendants' motion for remittitur.
ANALYSIS
Neither the first edition (1961) nor the second edition (1971) of the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, contained instructions dealing with claims of strict product liability. The 400.00 series of instructions, which deals with strict product liability, was adopted in 1977 in a supplement to the second edition. See IPI Civil (2006), at xiii-xiv (foreword to the third edition). The third edition, which was adopted in 1992, retained instruction 400.06 without change, as have subsequent editions in 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2006. Pattern jury instruction 400.06 defines the term "unreasonably dangerous" in the context of a strict product liability claim:
"When I use the expression `unreasonably dangerous' in these instructions, I mean unsafe when put to a use that is reasonably foreseeable considering the nature and function of the [product]." IPI Civil (2006) No. 400.06.
The comment following this instruction observes that the "expression `unreasonably dangerous' first found acceptance in Illinois in Suvada v. White Motor Co., 32 Ill.2d 612, 210 N.E.2d 182 (1965)."[1] IPI Civil (2006) No. 400.06, Comment, at 562. In Suvada, this court recognized a cause of action for strict liability in tort against the manufacturer of a product whose defective condition made it unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer. This court noted that its conclusion "coincide[d] with the position taken in section 402A of the American Law Institute's revised Restatement of the Law of Torts," which had recently been approved. Suvada, 32 Ill.2d at 621, 210 N.E.2d 182. This section provides, in part, that:
*335 "One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property * * *." Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965).
The drafters of the pattern jury instruction explained that they chose the phrase "unreasonably dangerous condition" instead of the words "defect" or "defective condition" because the phrase "is more conversational and is less likely to suggest traditional concepts of fault to the jurors." The drafters noted, further, that an instruction defining "unreasonably dangerous" is needed "because the concept is not generally understood by, nor within the common experience of, jurors." Under this instruction, "a product can be `unreasonably dangerous' only when put to a use that is reasonably foreseeable." IPI Civil (2006) No. 400.06, Comment, at 563.
It has since been well established that to recover in a strict product liability action, a plaintiff must plead and prove that the injury complained of resulted from a condition of the product, that the condition was unreasonably dangerous, and that it existed at the time the product left the manufacturer's control. Sollami v. Eaton, 201 Ill.2d 1, 7, 265 Ill.Dec. 177, 772 N.E.2d 215 (2002). A product may be found to be unreasonably dangerous based on proof of any one of three conditions: a physical defect in the product itself, a defect in the product's design, or a failure of the manufacturer to warn of the danger or to instruct on the proper use of the product. Sollami, 201 Ill.2d at 7, 265 Ill.Dec. 177, 772 N.E.2d 215.
As early as 1979, this court held that when a strict liability claim is based on an alleged design defect, the product may be proven to be unreasonably dangerous "by evidence of the availability and feasibility of alternate designs at the time of its manufacture, or that the design used did not conform with the design standards of the industry, design guidelines provided by an authoritative voluntary association, or design criteria set by legislation or governmental regulation." Anderson v. Hyster Co., 74 Ill.2d 364, 368, 24 Ill.Dec. 549, 385 N.E.2d 690 (1979).
That same year, this court held that a product may be found unreasonably dangerous based on a design defect if the plaintiff presents evidence of an alternative design that is "economical, practical and effective." Kerns v. Engelke, 76 Ill.2d 154, 162-63, 28 Ill.Dec. 500, 390 N.E.2d 859 (1979). Such evidence introduces the question of feasibility, "`since a manufacturer's product can hardly be faulted if safer alternatives are not feasible.'" Kerns, 76 Ill.2d at 163, 28 Ill.Dec. 500, 390 N.E.2d 859, quoting Sutkowski v. Universal Marion Corp., 5 Ill.App.3d 313, 319, 281 N.E.2d 749 (1972). Because the evidence and the court's instructions were sufficient for the jury to find for the plaintiff in Kerns, this court did not determine whether a plaintiff claiming design defect must plead and prove that a feasible alternative design is available. Kerns, 76 Ill.2d at 163-64, 28 Ill.Dec. 500, 390 N.E.2d 859.
In Lamkin v. Towner, 138 Ill.2d 510, 528, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449 (1990), this court reiterated its earlier adoption of section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, observing that a product is "unreasonably dangerous" due to a defect in either manufacturing or design when it is "`dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer who purchases it, with the ordinary knowledge common to the community as to its characteristics.'" Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 528, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449, quoting Restatement (Second) *336 of Torts § 402A, Comment i, at 352 (1965).
We further stated that in a strict product liability action, a claim of defective design may be proven in either of two ways. First, the plaintiff may introduce "evidence that the product failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable manner." Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 529, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. This has come to be known as the consumer-expectation test. Second, the plaintiff may introduce "evidence that the product's design proximately caused his injury." If the defendant thereafter "fails to prove that on balance the benefits of the challenged design outweigh the risk of danger inherent in such designs," the plaintiff will prevail. Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 529, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. This test, which added the balancing of risks and benefits to the alternative design and feasibility inquiries adopted in Anderson and Kerns, has come to be known as the risk-utility or risk-benefit test.
The product at issue in Lamkin was a window screen. The plaintiffs were parents of two children who were injured when they fell from apartment windows. The trial court denied the defendants' motions for summary judgment and certified four questions for interlocutory appeal. Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 516-17, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. On the question of the plaintiffs' claims of strict liability for defective design, this court applied both the consumer-expectation test and the risk-utility test to the evidentiary materials in the record and determined that the trial court's denial of the motion for summary judgment was improper because plaintiffs could not have met either test. Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 529-31, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449.
Specifically, under the consumer-expectation test, the question was whether "the window screens failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable manner." (Emphasis in original.) Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 529, 150 Ill. Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. Because window screens are designed for ventilation and to prevent insects from entering, not to prevent an individual from falling, the window screen did what it was designed to do without unreasonable danger. The danger arose only when the window screen did not do something it was not designed to do. The ordinary person, with ordinary knowledge, would appreciate this distinction. Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 529-30, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449.
Applying the risk-utility test, this court considered whether there was evidence of how the "window screens' design proximately caused" the children's injuries. (Emphasis in original.) Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 530, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. This court asked whether the plaintiff had provided "evidence of how the window screens' design could have been altered to create a safer screen * * * or any evidence of the form and feasibility of the alternative screen design." Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 530, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449. Finding no evidence to support the plaintiffs' allegations, this court found, as a matter of law, that the window screens were not "`defective or unreasonably dangerous' such as to serve as the basis for a products liability action." Lamkin, 138 Ill.2d at 530-31, 150 Ill.Dec. 562, 563 N.E.2d 449.
Notably, in Lamkin, when applying the consumer-expectation test, this court focused on the manner in which the allegedly dangerous product was being used. When applying the risk-utility test, this court focused on the availability and feasibility *337 of alternative designs for the product. IPI Civil (2006) No. 400.06, which was given in the present case, also focuses on the use to which the allegedly defective product was being put, thus stating, at least in part, the content of the consumer-expectation test. The instruction, however, does not include any content specific to the risk-utility test.
(1)
Defendants argue that this court's decisions subsequent to Lamkin, specifically Hansen v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 198 Ill.2d 420, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35 (2002), Blue v. Environmental Engineering, Inc., 215 Ill.2d 78, 293 Ill.Dec. 630, 828 N.E.2d 1128 (2005), and Calles, 224 Ill.2d 247, 309 Ill.Dec. 383, 864 N.E.2d 249, have established that in a product liability action predicated on a claim of defective design, the risk-utility test is the only proper test. If this court's precedents do not establish this definitive rule, they argue, our decisions have nevertheless established that the risk-utility test is the only test to be applied if the product at issue is complex and if the injury occurred in circumstances unfamiliar to the average consumer. Thus, defendants argue, even if the consumer-expectation test might still be applicable in some design defect cases, it is "reserved" for cases involving simple products or everyday circumstances. They argue, further, that despite this development in the law of strict product liability, the existing pattern jury instruction misinforms the jury by not setting out the applicable test.
The defendants frame the question for this court as whether the existing jury instruction accurately states the law, subject to de novo review, citing People v. Parker, 223 Ill.2d 494, 501, 308 Ill.Dec. 371, 861 N.E.2d 936 (2006). Plaintiff argues for application of the abuse of discretion standard, under which reversal is not appropriate for giving a faulty instruction or refusing to give a tendered instruction absent a showing of prejudice to a party's right to a fair trial. McCarthy v. Kunicki, 355 Ill.App.3d 957, 970, 291 Ill.Dec. 502, 823 N.E.2d 1088 (2005). Defendants reply that even if this court were to apply the abuse of discretion standard, it was an abuse of discretion requiring a new trial for the trial court to give an outdated, inapplicable instruction on a key issue, citing Eshoo v. Chicago Transit Authority, 309 Ill.App.3d 831, 836-37, 243 Ill.Dec. 307, 723 N.E.2d 339 (1999). We agree with defendants that the question presented at this stage of our analysis is a question of law because it asks whether, as a matter of substantive law, this court has abandoned or limited the application of the consumer-expectation test in design defect cases and replaced it with the risk-utility test. Our review is, therefore, de novo.
We first used the expression "risk-utility" in Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 428, 261 Ill. Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35, where the unintentional disconnection of an intravenous catheter connecting device had caused a fatal air embolism. The plaintiff claimed that the manufacturer failed to warn users of the device of the likelihood of unintentional disconnection and also that the device was unreasonably dangerous due to a design defect. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 423-24, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. The jury rendered a general verdict, finding the defendant liable. The appellate court found that the general verdict could not be sustained on the failure-to-warn theory, but that the evidence justified a finding of design defect under either the consumer-expectation test or the risk-utility test. Hansen v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 309 Ill.App.3d 869, 243 Ill.Dec. 270, 723 N.E.2d 302 (1999). The defendant manufacturer argued on appeal to this court that the appellate court erred by applying risk-utility *338 analysis. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 428, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. The defendant argued for application of only the consumer-expectation test, but claimed that the relevant expectations were those of healthcare professionals, not patients, and that the ordinary professional consumer of this product would not have found it more dangerous than expected. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 433-34, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35.
This court first addressed the failure to warn claim and found, contrary to the appellate court's holding, that the defendant had a duty to warn physicians and other health-care professionals who might use the device of its "known dangerous propensities" and that the jury's general verdict could reasonably have been based on a finding that the defendant had not fulfilled that duty. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 430-32, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35.
This court then turned to the design defect claim. We must note, however, that this court's holding on the failure to warn claim would have been a sufficient basis to affirm the trial court judgment. Arguably, it was not necessary for this court to reach the design defect claim, even though the defendant's petition for leave to appeal had been granted to review the appellate court's ruling on this issue. Whether this renders the remainder of the decision dictum is open to debate, but if dictum, it is judicial dictum. Hawes v. Luhr Brothers, Inc., 212 Ill.2d 93, 100, 287 Ill.Dec. 583, 816 N.E.2d 345 (2004) (supreme court's unnecessary pronouncement on an issue briefed and argued by the parties is "judicial dicta," rather than mere "obiter dicta" and should be given dispositive weight by the lower courts).
Considering the consumer-expectation test, this court concluded that the ordinary-consumer-expectation test, rather than the ordinary-physician-expectation test, applied to the design defect claim because the patient "was the person who would be harmed if the device failed" and because she "could have reasonably expected that her IV catheter connection, if properly designed and manufactured, would be safe to use for its intended purpose." Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 435, 261 Ill. Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. The evidence at trial was sufficient to establish that the design of the device was defective under this test. Thus, the appellate court was correct that the jury's decision was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 435, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. Again, our analysis could have stopped here, but we went on to consider whether the evidence supported the verdict under the risk-utility test.
The defendant in Hansen argued that the risk-utility test was not appropriately applied to the medical device because it was simple and its risks were well known to the medical community. Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 436, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. The defendant relied on Scoby v. Vulcan-Hart Corp., 211 Ill.App.3d 106, 155 Ill.Dec. 536, 569 N.E.2d 1147 (1991), in which the appellate court had rejected application of the risk-utility test to a claim that a deep-fat fryer used in a restaurant was defectively designed because it lacked a cover, stating:
"Somewhere, a line must be drawn beyond which the danger-utility test cannot be applied. Considering not only the obvious nature of any danger here but, also, the simple nature of the mechanism involved, we conclude that the circuit court properly applied only the consumer-user contemplation test." Scoby, 211 Ill.App.3d at 112, 155 Ill.Dec. 536, 569 N.E.2d 1147.
This court neither rejected nor adopted the principle set out in Scoby, but found *339 that even if such a principle applied, it would not have affected the outcome in Hansen. First, such a conclusion was "not compelled by the facts" related to the medical device, which, unlike the deep-fat fryer, had been developed and marketed as a safety device. Second, this court found that, unlike the deep-fat fryer, the danger presented by the medical device was "not obvious, nor was the mechanism simple." Hansen, 198 Ill.2d at 437, 261 Ill.Dec. 744, 764 N.E.2d 35. Thus, this court concluded that evidence of the existence of an alternative, safer design for the medical device was properly admitted and that the record was "sufficient to sustain a finding of unreasonable dangerousness under a risk-utility analysis." Hansen,