Yong Lee v. Electric Motor Division

Plaintiffs Yong Lee and In Hak Lee appeal the adverse summary judgment granted on their consolidated actions seeking to impose liability for personal injury and loss of consortium against defendant com ponent part manufacturer, Electric Motor Division, an unincorporated division of Gould, Inc., who manufactured and supplied the motor installed in the machine that injured Yong Lee.

Plaintiffs purchased a market in Downey, California, and included in the assets purchased was a meat grinding machine (machine) that was designed, manufactured and sold by Butcher Boy and Lasar Manufacturing Company (Lasar). Defendant designed, manufactured, and sold the electric motor to Lasar, who installed it in the machine.

Plaintiff Yong Lee was injured on January 15, 1979, while using the machine to grind meat. Her right hand was caught and crushed in the grinding mechanism, resulting in the amputation of her right hand and part of her forearm.

Plaintiffs filed their respective consolidated complaints for personal injury and loss of consortium based on theories of negligent design, manufacture and failure to warn, strict liability, and breach of warranty, against several parties,…