Articles Posted in Class Action

Recently we explored the Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s discussion of the legal cause of a tragic natural gas explosion at the Jones residence in Opelousas Parish. Another of Centerpoint’s assignments of error on appeal, the last that we’ll review from the case, was that the jury incorrectly apportioned fault; the jury assigned 50 percent of the fault to Centerpoint and 50 percent to Carl Jones, Sr. Centerpoint argued that Jones should have been assessed “at least ninety percent of the fault in causing the explosion and fire.” The review of fault allocation by an appellate court is based on the “manifestly erroneous” standard. That is, the court must allow the jury’s apportionment to stand unless it is clearly wrong.

The court began its review of Centerpoint’s argument by focusing on the trial testimony of several of its witnesses. All expressed that the company “clearly recognizes the inherently dangerous nature of its product and has developed numerous measures designed to prevent explosions and fires, such as occurred in this litigation.” One witness, the company’s former Operations Manager for the state of Louisiana, testified that the procedures for

disconnecting gas service are “based on the inherently dangerous nature of” natural gas and are designed to “protect people from their own ignorance.” He further expressed the view that Centerpoint has “an obligation to take every reasonable step to prevent its customers from tampering with its natural gas supply system.” The court equated the risk of “catastrophic consequences” created by Centerpoint’s conduct to Jones’s action in reconnecting the gas supply. Had either party “not breached the applicable duties imposed upon them,” reasoned the court, the accident would not have happened. Nevertheless, when comparing their relative conduct, the court concluded that “Centerpoint Energy’s fault far exceeds that of Mr. Jones.” It considered Centerpoint to be the “superior actor” in the incident who failed–even in light of the gas industry’s general awareness that “customers will attempt to steal gas”–to engage in a “rather simple task” that was designed to “prevent exactly the result which occurred.” Thus, the court could “not find that the jury was manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong in apportioning fault equally” between Centerpoint and Jones.

In our prior post, we observed the Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s finding that the jury correctly held that Centerpoint Energy failed to meet its duty of properly securing the natural gas line and valve when it disconnected service at the Jones residence in Opelousas Parish. Establishing the duty owed by Centerpoint was one of several elements of the duty-risk analysis that Jones was required to establish in order to prevail. Another element that we will now consider is that of causation. Centerpoint argued that its failure to properly shut off and secure the gas supply was not the legal cause of the injuries sustained by the Jones family. Instead, in Centerpoint’s view, Jones’s “reconnection of the gas service constituted intervening conduct that was not only grossly negligent, intentional, and criminal, but also not foreseeable.” Under Louisiana law, an intervening act will relieve the original tortfeasor of liability if it

“superseded the original negligence and alone produced the injury.” Adams v. Rhodia, Inc. However, if the intervening act is foreseeable to the original tortfeasor, it is considered to be “within the scope of the original tortfeasor’s negligence.” In short, Centerpoint argued it could not possibly have foreseen Jones’s attempt to reconnect his gas line and, therefore, its failure to properly secure the line was irrelevant once Jones acted to steal the gas.

The court, however, found that Centerpoint’s position was “defeated” by the testimony of its own wtinesses. One employee, the company’s Operations Supervisor, explained that the security mechanisms were necessary because it was “common sense that people will try to steal natural gas after their supply has been cut off.” Another, Centerpoint’s former Operations Manager for Louisiana, stated that the locking mechanisms were required because “people do not always understand the dangers associated with natural gas.” Also, an expert in the field of natural gas operations testified that Centerpoint should have “no illusions” about the potential for people to steal natural gas. The court found that “Jones’s actions in leaving an uncapped gas line open in the house, breaking the plastic locking device and stealing natural gas, and negligently leaving the natural gas running into the house all night, are exactly the unsafe acts that Centerpoint Energy’s duty to properly terminate service is designed to prevent.” Thus, it concluded, the jury’s finding that Jones’s conduct was foreseeable was well supported, and it correctly determined that Centerpoint could not rely on Jones’s intervening criminal act to relieve it of all responsibility for the explosion.

On May 7, 2003, Centerpoint Energy disconnected the natural gas service at the house of Carl Jones, Sr. and his family because they were past due on an outstanding balance. A short time later, Jones and his son removed the gas stove from the kitchen and replaced it with an electric model. Unfortunately, Jones forgot to cap the gas line before installing the new stove. Late in the evening of June 15, 2004, after having been without a functioning water heater since the disconnection, Jones reconnected the gas line. He did so because he was expecting guests the following day and wished to have a supply of hot water that did not require stove-top heating. To make the reconnection, Jones used a wrench to snap off the red plastic locking device that the Centerpoint technician had installed on the line when he closed the valve. Unable to re-light his water heater, Jones assumed no gas was flowing and went to bed. By morning, the house was filled with gas, and as the family arose several large fireballs erupted. Jones, his wife, and their four children were severely injured in the explosion. Jones sued Centerpoint seeking to recover for his and his family’s injuries. A trial was held in July, 2010. After the judge denied Centerpoint’s motion for a directed verdict, a jury apportioned half of the fault to Centerpoint and half to Jones and awarded substantial sums to Jones’s family members for their injuries. Centerpoint appealed, arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred in permitting the case to go to the jury at all. In Centerpoint’s view, its duty to reasonably disconnect gas service for non-payment did not extend to protecting Jones against the explosion caused “by [his] subsequent negligent, intentional, criminal and then grossly negligent conduct.”

An appeal of a trial court’s denial of a motion for a directed verdict requires the appellate court’s de novo review because such a motion can be granted “only if the facts and inferences are so overwhelmingly in favor of the moving party that the court finds that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary verdict.” The Third Circuit began its analysis by noting that “[t]o prevail in their personal injury suit, the plaintiffs bore the burden of establishing that Centerpoint Energy was at fault in causing the accident, using a duty-risk analysis.” Centerpoint argued that Jones failed to meet this burden, in part, because he could not establish that the utility did not conform to the appropriate standard of care when shutting off the gas supply. The court found two sources for the scope of duty imputed to Centerpoint. First, Louisiana case law takes the position that it is

“common knowledge … that natural gas, being highly flammable and explosive in nature, is an inherently dangerous instrumentality. Those who handle and distribute it are charged with that degree of care commensurate with its dangerous character for the protection of the public from any foreseeable injury.” Giordano v. Rheem Manufacturing Co..