Ronald E. Nielsen v. George Diamond Vogel Paint Company, and United Coatings, Inc.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is a diversity action brought by Ronald Nielsen, a former civilian employee of the United States government’s Army Corps of Engineers. Nielsen’s job for many years was to paint a dam in Idaho. Nielsen sued the manufacturers of paint which he used in the course of his job, alleging that it led to permanent brain damage. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants, agreeing that any defects in the design of the paint and in warnings on its use were attributable to government specifications, and that under Idaho law the manufacturer would not be liable for damages on either negligence or strict liability principles.

On appeal, the defendants also contend that as a result of the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in Boyle v. United Technologies Corp., 487 U.S. 500 , 108 S.Ct. 2510 , 101 L.Ed.2d 442 (1988), they are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of federal law by virtue of the defendants’ contractual relationship to the United States government, which required them to manufacture the paint used at Nielsen’s work site in accordance with government-approved specifications. We do not read Boyle to establish the broad immunity…