McCullock v. H.B. Fuller Co.

Geraldine McCullock (plaintiff) filed suit against H.B. Fuller Company (Fuller) (defendant) on negligence and strict-liability claims that Fuller failed to warn McCullock of health hazards arising from the use of Fuller’s hot-melt glue and that glue fumes caused her to experience respiratory injuries, which included throat polyps. McCullock worked for 16 years at The Book Press, a company that printed and bound books. From 1986 to 1990, McCullock worked 30 feet from an unventilated Fuller glue pot. McCullock and other employees could smell glue fumes, particularly when the glue pot overheated. Fuller provided a material safety data sheet to The Book Press that included warnings and placed a warning label on every hot-melt glue container. The warnings indicated health problems were associated with the glue, which should only be used in areas with adequate ventilation, but The Book Press did not use a local ventilation system over that particular glue pot, despite using ventilation systems over other glue pots. At trial, McCullock tried to introduce testimony from a pair of expert witnesses, Dr. Robert Fagelson and Jack Woolley. Dr. Fagelson, who would testify that the glue fumes caused McCullock’s injuries, was allowed to testify. However, the trial court did not qualify Wooley, who was prepared to testify about the inadequacy of Fuller’s warnings. At the conclusion of McCullock’s case, the court granted Fuller’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on the duty to warn. On appeal, that ruling was reversed, and the case was remanded for retrial. At the retrial, Woolley was allowed to testify after establishing that he had a degree in industrial engineering, had taken courses in industrial safety and plant design, had been an industrial safety consultant for 15 years, and had several dozen experiences with issues concerning fumes or vapors in an industrial workplace. Woolley also had experience as a consulting engineer and a designer of ventilation systems. Accordingly, Woolley was allowed to testify that McCullock was within the zone of exposure to fumes emitted from the glue pot. McCullock won a verdict for $75,000 on each count, and Fuller appealed. Fuller argued that Woolley should not have been allowed to testify because he had no formal education in fume-dispersal patterns and no experience interpreting or performing air-quality studies.