Charles and Beverly Duncan v. Monsanto Company, et al.
Published: Mar. 1, 1997 | Result Date: Jun. 20, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CV735737 – $0
Judge
Court
Santa Clara Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Joseph D. Vinso
(technical)
Richard Lavongood
(technical)
Defendant
Brian Kehoe
(technical)
Frederick J. McGarry
(technical)
D. Paul Regan
(technical)
Facts
From 1987 to 1991, plaintiffs Charles and Beverly Duncan were owners of several businesses that assembled and retailed plastic truck tops. The name of plaintiff's company that assembled the truck tops was Bronco Toppers, Inc. The names of the retail sales lots where the Duncans sold the plastic truck tops were Truck Toppers USA, Inc., Bronco Truck Toppers of Hayward, Inc., and Bronco Toppers of Fresno, Inc. For most of the four years that they were in business, the plaintiffs handled truck tops made from Dow Chemical Company's plastics. For a period in 1991, the plaintiffs assembled and sold truck tops made of a plastic manufactured by defendant Monsanto Company known as Centrex 833. Defendant Monsanto generally sells Centrex 833 plastic in the form of small pellets to companies known as sheet extruders. In this case, Monsanto sold the plastic pellets to the defendant extruder. The defendant extruder then heated the pellets, formed the melted plastic into flat sheets, and sold the flat sheets of plastic to the defendant thermoformer. The defendant thermoformer used heat and molds to shape the flat sheets into truck tops shells and then sold the truck top shells to the plaintiffs, who applied finishes to the shells such as windows, doors, internal frames, and paint. The plaintiffs then sold the truck tops through their retail outlets. Both the extruder and the thermoformer were named defendants, but they settled with the plaintiffs just prior to trial. The plaintiffs brought this action against all defendants based on fraud, negligent misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation and breach of warranty theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Per the plaintiffs the plaintiffs made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand of $1.5 million and defendant Monsanto made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $5,000.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately two years and six months after the case was filed. A judicial arbitration was held on May 23, 1995 before William J. Goines resulting in a defense award. The plaintiffs requested a trial de novo. EXPERT TESTIMONY: Plaintiffs' expert Joseph D. Vinso, a business appraiser, testified that the plaintiffs' business suffered economic damages as a result of its use of Centrex plastic to assemble truck tops. Plaintiffs' expert Richard Lavongood a former Monsanto employee, testified that Centerex 833 was not properly field-tested for use in truck tops and experienced excessive failures once put to that use. Defense expert Frederick J. McGarry, a professor of polymer engineering, testified that Monsanto's testing of Centrex 833 conformed to industry practices and that Centrex 833 is suitable for use in truck top applications. Defense expert Brian Kehoe, a truck top assembler, testified about the importance of proper assembly techniques in minimizing the likelihood of truck top failures. Defense expert D. Paul Regan, a certifed public accountant, testified concerning the financial history and condition of the plaintiffs' business and addressed the plaintiffs' damages claim.
Deliberation
3 hours
Poll
11-1
Length
11 days
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