Leichty v. Yoder Mfg., Inc.

[This decision has been published in Ohio Official Reports at 

.]




   GOODIN, APPELLANT, v. COLUMBIA GAS OF OHIO, INC., APPELLEE, ET AL.
  LIECHTY, EXR., APPELLANT, v. YODER MANUFACTURING, INC. ET AL.; ITT
                            AUTOMOTIVE, INC., APPELLEE.
         [Cite as Goodin v. Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc., 

.]
Appeals dismissed as improvidently allowed.
 (Nos. 00-769 and 00-1160 — Submitted April 4, 2001 at the Lawrence County
                           Session — Decided July 5, 2001.)
       APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Athens County, No. 99CA30.
       APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County, No. 75654.
                                  __________________
        {¶ 1} The causes are dismissed, sua sponte, as having been improvidently
allowed.
        MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, COOK and LUNDBERG STRATTON,
JJ., concur.
        DOUGLAS and PFEIFER, JJ., dissent.
                                  __________________
        PFEIFER, J., dissenting.
        {¶ 2} I disagree that this appeal was improvidently allowed. The decision
of the trial court, upheld by the court of appeals, negatively impacts our tradition of
trial by jury. In my view, issues of fact appropriate for a jury’s determination were
dealt with summarily by the trial judge. Specifically, genuine issues of fact existed
as to two of the three prongs of the test establishing intent in intentional workplace
torts, as enunciated in Fyffe v. Jeno’s, Inc. (1991), 

, 

. Here, reasonable minds could have concluded that the employer, through its
agents, knew that appellant’s decedent was substantially certain to be harmed due
to a dangerous work-related procedure and that the employer, despite that
                            SUPREME COURT OF OHIO




knowledge, required appellant’s decedent to perform that dangerous task. We
should have dealt with the case on the merits and reversed the judgment of the court
of appeals.
       DOUGLAS, J., concurs in the foregoing dissenting opinion.
                              __________________
       Colley, Shroyer & Abraham Co., L.P.A., Michael F. Colley, Daniel N.
Abraham and David K. Frank, for appellant, in case No. 00-769.
       Stephen L. Hebenstreit and Andrew J. Sonderman, for appellee, in case No.
00-769.
       Ray & Alton, L.L.P., and Frank A. Ray, urging reversal for amicus curiae,
Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, in case No. 00-769.
       Stewart Jaffy & Associates Co., L.P.A., Stewart R. Jaffy and Marc J. Jaffy,
urging reversal for amicus curiae, Ohio AFL-CIO, in case No. 00-769.
       Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, L.L.P., and Scott A. Richardson,
urging affirmance for amicus curiae, Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, in
case No. 00-769.
       Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, L.L.P., Robert A. Minor and Robin R.
Obetz, urging affirmance for amicus curiae, Ohio Self-Insurers’ Association, in
case No. 00-769.
       Paul W. Flowers Co., L.P.A., and Paul W. Flowers; The Landskroner Law
Firm, Ltd., and Jack Landskroner, for appellant, in case No. 00-1160.
       Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, L.L.P., Damond R. Mace and Adam R. Fox,
for appellee, in case No. 00-1160.
       Hochman & Roach Co., L.P.A., James B. Hochman and Cinamon S.
Houston, urging reversal for amicus curiae, Dayton Springfield Miami Valley
AFL-CIO, Regional Labor Council, in case No. 00-1160.




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                             January Term, 2001




       Bashein & Bashein Co., L.P.A., and W. Craig Bashein; Weisman, Goldberg
& Weisman Co., L.P.A., R. Eric Kennedy and Henry W. Chamberlain; The Okey
Law Firm, L.P.A., and Mark D. Okey, for amicus curiae, in case No. 00-1160.
                            __________________




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