Lovick v. Wil-Rich

Leo Lovick (plaintiff) was injured when a cultivator wing fell and struck him after its hydraulic-cylinder linkage broke while he removed a holding pin underneath it; the cultivator's manufacturer, Wil-Rich (defendant), had learned of this falling-wing danger from incidents in the 1980s and began affixing warning labels to newly manufactured cultivators in 1988, but Lovick's cultivator was made and sold in 1981, and Wil-Rich did not implement any post-sale warning program for older units until 1994, citing practical difficulties locating owners. The trial court instructed the jury under an ordinary negligence standard, the jury found for Lovick, and Wil-Rich's motion for directed verdict was denied and appealed.