Behrendt v. Gulf Underwriters Insurance Co.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
768 N.W.2d 568 (2009)
Silvan Industries (defendant) manufactured pressurized tanks subject to strict safety codes, and let employees take home scrapped tanks and materials for personal projects, cutting holes in the scrapped tanks first so they couldn't function as pressure vessels again. A Silvan employee took a scrapped tank, patched the hole, and re-pressurized it for Kenneth Behrendt (plaintiff) to use in his oil-change business. Years later, the modified tank suddenly exploded and injured Behrendt, who sued Silvan and its insurer, Gulf Underwriters Insurance Company (defendant). The trial court granted Silvan summary judgment, and the court of appeals affirmed, holding Silvan owed no duty because it was unforeseeable that a de-pressurized scrap tank would be re-fabricated into a pressurized one and used safely for years before suddenly failing.
Whether a defendant breaches its duty of ordinary care when the specific harm that occurred was not a foreseeable risk of the defendant's conduct.