Timpte Industries Inc. v. Gish

Truck driver Gish (plaintiff) climbed a ladder on his employer's Timpte-manufactured (defendant) trailer and used its narrow, five-inch aluminum top rail to assist with loading, despite Timpte's warnings to maintain three-point contact with the trailer and not to use the ladder to access the top, and fell roughly ten feet, sustaining injuries; Gish sued for negligent design, arguing the top rail should have been wider and the ladder's top two rungs removed to prevent climbing onto the trailer's top. The trial court granted Timpte summary judgment, the court of appeals reversed, and Timpte appealed.