Indiana Federal Court Dismisses Product Liability Suit Against Crane Supplier Following Alleged Problem with Crane’s Cruise Control

On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted summary judgment to the supplier of a large crane used for constructing wind turbines on an Indiana wind farm.  Following a workplace incident, a worker sued the provider of the crane alleging that the supplier was negligent in inspecting the crane by failing to recognize an electrical wiring defect in which the cruise control (or detent controller) could become stuck in one position.  The court agreed that the crane supplier owed a duty to the worker and that a question of fact existed as to whether the supplier breached its duty by failing to inspect the detent controller upon delivery of the crane.  The court, however, concluded that even assuming a breach of that duty, the negligence claim fails because there was no evidence supporting the worker’s claim that the failure to inspect proximately caused the worker’s injuries.  Although the issues of breach of duty and proximate cause are generally for the jury, the court granted summary judgment here because the jury could not have reasonably reached a different conclusion on the proximate cause prong of the negligence analysis.