A third party defendant brought a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of negligence allegations in a third party claim arising from a water main failure involving high density polyethylene pipe.
The court applied the framework for summary judgment articulated in Hryniak v. Mauldin and considered whether the evidentiary record demonstrated a genuine issue requiring a trial.
Several negligence allegations relating to manufacturing defects, inspection failures, and product design were dismissed on partial summary judgment.
However, claims alleging that the pipe may have been damaged while in the moving party’s care, custody, or control were allowed to proceed because causation remained unresolved among multiple parties who handled the pipe.
The court concluded that determining which party caused the fracture required a full evidentiary record and credibility findings best addressed at trial.
