TERRY CASH-DARLING, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Paul Cash, Decedent v. RECYCLING EQUIPMENT, INC. - Articles

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TERRY CASH-DARLING, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Paul Cash, Decedent v. RECYCLING EQUIPMENT, INC.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Mar 17, 2023

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Michael J. Wall, BRANSTETTER, STRANCH & JENNINGS, PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Catherine A. Karczmarczyk, BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWITZ, PC, Johnson City, Tennessee, for Appellee

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Michael J. Wall, Janna Maples, BRANSTETTER, STRANCH & JENNINGS, PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee, John C. Duff, Marion M. Reilly, HILLIARD MARTINEZ GONZALES LLP, Corpus Christi, Texas, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Catherine A. Karczmarczyk, Ronald S. Range, Jr., BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWITZ, PC, Johnson City, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Judge(s): GILMAN, McKEAGUE, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Paul Cash died when a hammermill shredder exploded at his workplace. The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) determined that the explosion was primarily caused by the accumulation of combustible aluminum dust produced by the shredding process. Cash’s sister, Terry Cash-Darling, brought this lawsuit as the personal representative of his estate against Recycling Equipment, Inc. (REI), the company that assembled and sold the shredder to Lighting Resources LLC (LR), Cash’s employer.

The estate asserts four product-liability claims. REI moved for summary judgment, arguing that because it “did not design the hammermill system at issue, and instead assisted LR with locating primarily used components that LR requested based on the design of LR’s existing system, REI is not legally responsible for any alleged defect in the system as a whole.”

The district court agreed and granted summary judgment in favor of REI, dismissing all of the estate’s claims. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

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