Wangen v. Ford Motor Company

97 Wis. 2d 260 (1980)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The occupants of the 1967 Ford Mustang were Robin DuVall, the driver, Terri Wangen, her sister, Kip Wangen, her brother, and Christopher DuVall, her son. Robin stopped her 1967 Ford Mustang at an intersection to make a left turn, and a car driven by Patrick J. Hawley ran into the rear end of the Mustang. The DuVall Mustang was pushed into the opposite lane of travel where it collided with a car driven by Thomas J. Curran. The Mustang's fuel tank ruptured, a fire ensued, and all occupants of the Mustang sustained severe injuries. Christopher DuVall and Kip Wangen died as a result of their injuries. Ps sued Ds in two lawsuits and both lawsuits sought compensatory damages from all named defendants and punitive damages from D. Ps claim that D knew that the fuel tanks on this and other 1967 Mustangs were dangerously defective before and after the manufacture of the car. D also failed to warn users of the car of the potential danger both after the danger became apparent and after D had changed the design to reduce the danger; that D failed to recall, repair or modify the defective vehicles after the defect became apparent in order to avoid the expense of those procedures and to prevent potential lost sales caused by adverse publicity; and that D's conduct in failing to warn, repair or recall the known defective vehicles constituted intentional, deliberate, reckless, willful, wanton, gross, callous, malicious and fraudulent disregard for the safety of users of D's product. D moved to dismiss the punitive damages. The circuit court denied D's motion. The appeals court concluded that punitive damages are recoverable in some instances. The court of appeals concluded (1) punitive damages are recoverable in a products liability suit for compensatory damages predicated on strict liability in tort; (2) punitive damages are not recoverable in a product liability suit for compensatory damages predicated on negligence; (3) punitive damages are recoverable in an action which survives the death of the injured person; (4) punitive damages are not recoverable in a wrongful death action; and (5) punitive damages are recoverable by parents in an action for damages for loss of society and companionship of a child but not in an action for damages for loss of the minor's earning capacity and medical expenses. D appealed.