676 N.Y.S.2d 364 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1998
—Order unanimously affirmed without costs. Memorandum: In this products liability action, Supreme Court properly denied the motion of defendant Reliance Electric Industrial Company (Reliance) for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. The accident occurred in May 1990 while John A. Cereo (plaintiff) was repairing a rolling mill bar handling machine with a leaky air line. When someone turned off the power at an operating panel, a pneumatically controlled roller returned to an “up” position and crushed plaintiff’s foot. Plaintiffs contend that Reliance negligently redesigned the machine’s operating panels in 1988 without lock-out devices that would have prevented the power from being shut off while he was working on the machine. Reliance contends that it performed the work pursuant to a subcontract with defendant Fordees Corporation (Fordees) and that it was a mere component manufacturer without responsibility for the design flaw (see, Leahy v Mid-West Conveyor Co., 120 AD2d 16, Iv denied 69 NY2d 606). Reliance, however, failed to meet its initial burden of establishing as a matter of law that the modifications were made in accordance with design
