Torres

Maintenance worker Luis Torres died from bums he received at the Rhdne-Poulenc chemical plant in Martinez on June 22, 1992, when he was doused with sulfuric acid sludge which escaped from a valve manufactured by Xomox Corporation (Xomox). His family filed a wrongful death and survival action against Xomox and Charles Lowe Company (Charles Lowe), the Xomox distributor which had sold the valve to RhonePoulenc. The Torres action was consolidated with the suit filed against Xomox and Charles Lowe by Richard Somborger, another employee of Rhdne-Poulenc who was injured in the accident.

A jury awarded damages to Somborger and the Torres plaintiffs, and allocated comparative fault for the accident as follows: Rhdne-Poulenc, 75 percent; Charles Lowe, 10 percent; Somborger, 5 percent; Torres, 5 percent; and Xomox, 5 percent. After the verdict was rendered, Somborger and the Torres plaintiffs settled with Charles Lowe, and Somborger settled with Xomox. Judgment was entered for the Torres plaintiffs against Xomox, from which Xomox has appealed.

Xomox contends in the alternative that: (1) judgment must be entered in its favor because no reasonable trier of fact could conclude that…