MYRLAK V. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 723 A.2d 45 (1999) CASE BRIEF

MYRLAK V. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

723 A.2d 45 (1999)

NATURE OF THE CASE: Girsberger (D) appealed a judgment that reversed a lower court's decision that a jury should have been charged with a res ipsa loquitur instruction in Myrlak (P) employee's products liability action.

FACTS: P was injured when the chair he was sitting on collapsed. P was at work at the Hoban Control Center and was employed as an assistant trainmaster for the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH). P was six feet six inches tall, and weighed approximately 325 pounds. P had been sitting in the chair for almost two hours when he suddenly heard a loud noise; the back of his chair cracked and gave way; and he fell backward to the floor. Other employees heard either a clicking or ratcheting sound, or a loud noise like the grinding of gears. D manufactured the chair. It had been in use at Hoban Control Center for five weeks. There was no evidence, however, that the chair had been misused by anyone. In part P alleged products liability claims against D, pursuant to manufacture and warning defect theories. P's expert was unable to duplicate the accident, identify a specific defect in the chair or state that a defect caused the accident. P asked the court to charge the jury on res ipsa loquitur in respect of the manufacturing defect claim since he was relying on circumstantial evidence to prove the existence of a manufacturing defect. The court declined to grant that charge. The jury found PATH was negligent in failing to provide P with a safe workplace and awarded him $1.5 million. The jury also found that P failed to establish a manufacturing defect in the chair. PATH appealed and P cross-appealed. The Appellate Division reversed both verdicts and remanded for a new trial. The verdict against PATH was reversed on an evidentiary basis. As against D, the trial court should have instructed the jury on res ipsa loquitur. D appealed.

ISSUE:

RULE OF LAW:

HOLDING AND DECISION:

LEGAL ANALYSIS:

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