Graham v. Amerigas Partners, Unpublished Decision (8-4-2000)
Graham v. Amerigas Partners, Unpublished Decision (8-4-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Plaintiffs Barbara Graham, Diane Graham, and Barbara Graham and Michael Davis as co-administrators of the Estate of Jessica Davis, filed the instant negligence action against seven defendants, including appellants Amerigas Partners, L.P.; Amerigas Propane, Inc.; and Amerigas Propane, L.P. Appellees Daryl and Allen Igo were also named defendants in the action. Appellants filed a cross-claim against appellees seeking contribution. The Licking County Common Pleas Court granted a motion for summary judgment filed by appellees, removing them from the action both as to the complaint and the cross-claim. Thereafter, appellants settled with the plaintiffs. Appellants appealed the summary judgment on their cross-claim for contribution:ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY IMPROPERLY GRANTING DARYL AND ALLEN IGO'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO APPELLANTS' CROSS-CLAIM.
Appellants have failed to comply with the requirements of Loc. App.R. 4 (B). In the interests of justice and economy, we elect not to dismiss the appeal, but to consider the matter on the merits. In May of 1997, plaintiffs Barbara and Diane Graham purchased a manufactured home from Palm Harbour. On July 21, 1997, after the home had been installed on their property, Houston Plumbing and Heating converted several appliances and a gas fireplace from natural to propane gas. After completing the conversion, Houston tested the integrity of the entire liquid propane gas system, finding no leaks. On August 7, 1997, an employee of Amerigas installed a new gas supply line from an existing propane tank to the manufactured home. After completing the installation, the employee tested the home entire liquid propane system, finding no leaks. On August 28, 1997, two employees of appellees were completing repairs to a septic line at the manufactured home. In attempting to excavate and remove an old electrical wire, an employee, using a backhoe, dug approximately two or three inches into the ground, severing a propane gas line. Appellee Daryl Igo turned off the gas at the propane tank, and telephoned Amerigas. Amerigas sent an employee to make the necessary repairs to the system. After completing the repairs, the employee claimed that he performed a pressure test of the line, detecting a leak at one of the couplings. The coupling was repaired, and a second pressure test was performed. According to the employee of Amerigas, the second pressure test revealed no leaks. The employee then tested the home's entire propane gas system, and proclaimed it leak free. The employees of appellees finished the work on the property, and left the residence. Thereafter, plaintiff Barbara Graham called Amerigas twice, advising them that she smelled propane. Amerigas did not tell her to turn off the propane gas at the tank, nor did Amerigas arrange to have a technician come to the residence to check for a leak. In the early morning hours of August 29, 1997, a propane gas explosion occurred, totaling destroying the residence. Jessica Davis was killed in the explosion, and Diana Graham was injured. As a result of that explosion, the plaintiffs filed the instant wrongful death action, survivorship action, action for loss of personal property, and personal injury action. In the trial court, plaintiffs did not object to appellees' motion for summary judgment, and in fact filed a memorandum in support of appellees' summary judgment motion. The only issue is whether appellants can further litigate a contribution claim against appellees. Amerigas first argues that the negligence of the Igos in severing the propane line was a contributing cause to the explosion. The court found that the intervening act of Amerigas prevented liability from attaching to appellees. Whether an intervening act breaks the causal connection between negligence and injury, thus relieving one of liability for his negligence, depends on whether the intervening cause was a conscious and responsible agency which could or should have eliminated the hazard, and whether the intervening cause was reasonably foreseeable by the one who is guilty of the negligence. Cascone v. Herb Kay Company (1983),
____________________ Reader, V. J.,
By Milligan, V. J, Gwin, P.J., and Hoffman, J., concur
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