Donald F. Juhnke v. Eig Corporation, a Corporation

Donald F. Juhnke (hereinafter Juhnke or appellant) lost the sight of his left eye as the result of the discharge of a tear gas gun manufactured by the appel-lee EIG Corporation (hereinafter EIG or appellee). He sued for damages for his personal injuries. This appeal is from a judgment on a jury verdict for the appellee and from a denial by the trial court of a motion for directed verdict, motion for judgment n. o. v. and motion for new trial.

Jurisdiction below rested on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1332 . We have jurisdiction by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

Appellant was employed by the Federal Aviation Agency at Butte, Montana. On the day of his accident he reported for work at 8:00 A.M., intending to engage in an aircraft familiarization flight. He went to an office desk which apparently was shared by a number of employees and opened a drawer to obtain a needed form. In the desk was the tear gas gun in question which had been inadvertently left there that morning by another employee who had completed her shift. The gun was approximately the size and shape of a large fountain pen or a pocket size flashlight, was silver in color and bore no readily discernible warning…