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Mount Olivet Tabernacle Church v. Edwin L. Wiegand Division, Emerson Electric Co.

In product liability case involving a water heater that caused a fire, judgment in favor of plaintiff affirmed; court did not err by failing to provide an instruction on intended use because evidence did not support such an instruction; although court should not have allowed line of questioning involving other fires and other heaters, court cured the error with a jury instruction; court's failure to grant a spoliation instruction was not prejudicial to defendant.

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�1 Appellant, the Emerson Electric Company, Weigand Division, *fn1 appeals from the judgment entered October 18, 1999, in favor of Plaintiff/Appellee, Mount Olivet Tabernacle Church (the Church). We affirm.

�2 The factual background of the case is as follows. Appellant manufactured and distributed a Chromalox Model TLC-210 Immersion Heater, which the Church used to heat water in a large baptismal pool. On November 26, 1994, a fire erupted in the Church building, causing extensive damage in the stipulated amount of $981,000.00. On November 22, 1996, the Church filed a complaint against Appellant, alleging that the heater was defective and that the heater caused the fire.

�3 Specifically, the Church alleged the following. A church employee filled the baptismal font and turned on the heater. The water drained from the pool, but the heater did not shut off. The heater reached extremely high temperatures and burned the bottom of the empty baptistry; the fire then spread to other parts of the building. The Church further alleged that the heater was defectively designed because it lacked safety warnings and safety devices such as a thermocouple and a low-water shutoff.

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