Judges: Jury Should Hear Florida Carbon Monoxide Suit

A federal judge was wrong to dismiss a lawsuit that blamed an auto muffler maker for the carbon monoxide poisoning of a 19-year-old Florida woman and her boyfriend, rather than let a jury decide, an appeals panel ruled this week.

Jenna Lake and Jason Epps died in October 2005 in his 1994 Dodge Minivan parked outside with the engine running in Hillsborough County, Fla.

Lake’s family sued Tenneco Inc., which manufactured the Thrush/Dynomax muffler Epps had installed with the help of a friend four months earlier. The suit said the muffler should have included installation instructions and a warning that carbon monoxide was a danger even in an open area unless the device was vented properly.

U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew of Tampa dismissed the suit, saying it “is common knowledge that if a car’s exhaust pipe is positioned in a manner that allows carbon monoxide to enter into a car that has all its windows closed … there is a risk that the passengers will die from carbon monoxide poisoning.”

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling Tuesday.

The opinion by Chief Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson said the muffler had no instructions warning of the danger if it was improperly installed, and Epps’ van was parked outside in a well-ventilated area.

“We cannot say, as a matter of law, that the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning was obvious to an objective, reasonable person,” said the opinion, which sends the suit back to the court in Tampa.

Attorneys for the Lake family “will now go back and complete discovery and proceed toward a trial,” said Joel S. Perwin of Miami, the lawyer who handled their appeal.

Perwin said although everyone knows carbon monoxide is deadly, many are unaware of the danger in an open space. The exhaust pipe on Epps’ van vented the gas to the side, but not enough to prevent it from seeping into a rust hole in the side panel beneath the sliding door.

Tenneco spokesman Jim Spangler said company officials are sympathetic to the Lake family but believe “there was an obvious danger” in installing the muffler incorrectly.

“We are extremely confident that we will prevail on the issues should the case go to trial,” Spangler said.