Town of Bridport v. Sterling Clark Lurton Corp.

166 Vt. 304, 693 A.2d 701 (1997)

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Town of Bridport v. Sterling Clark Lurton Corp.

Vermont Supreme Court
166 Vt. 304, 693 A.2d 701 (1997)

  • Written by Noah Lewis, JD

Facts

The Bridport Restoration Project Committee was restoring Bridport’s town hall. Robert Grant volunteered to purchase chemicals to work on the second-level floor. Grant purchased a gallon container of gum turps and a gallon container of boiled linseed oil, both manufactured by Sterling Clark Lurton Corp. (Sterling) (defendant). Grant scanned the label for the application instructions but did not thoroughly read the label. The gum turps label had a large warning on the front noting, “Danger! Flammable.” The back panel described mixing the product with boiled linseed oil to make furniture polish, and said to “dispose of oily rags in a safe place to avoid spontaneous combustion.” The front of the linseed-oil container warned to read a caution on the back panel before use. The back panel warned that oily cloths were subject to spontaneous combustion and described how to handle used cloths. Gary Barkley, another volunteer, did not look at the product containers. The two men spread a 50/50 mixture of the products on the floor and swept or mopped it up with sawdust. When finished, the men left behind a bucket containing the wet, oily sawdust, the product containers, and possibly a mop used to clean the floor. The next day, the building burst into flames caused by spontaneous combustion of the floor-cleaning materials. The Town of Bridport (plaintiff) sued Sterling, alleging failure to warn. Sterling successfully moved for summary judgment, arguing inadequate warnings could not be the proximate cause of the fire because the users did not read them. The town moved for relief from judgment, arguing conspicuousness was a factor in the adequacy of the warning, which the court rejected. The town appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Johnson, J.)

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