Great N. Ins. Co. v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., No. A16-0997, 2018 Minn. LEXIS 236 (May 9, 2018)
This case arises out of a residential construction project and the installation of ventilators into a home’s HVAC system. Sixteen years after completion of the work, a fire occurred in one of the ventilators, causing property damage. After paying the homeowners’ insurance claim, Great Northern Insurance (“Great Northern”), as subrogee, filed suit against McMillan Electric Company (“McMillan”), the manufacturer of the motors in the ventilators, asserting claims for product liability, breach of warranty, and negligence, including a claim for breach of a post-sale duty to warn consumers of the risk of fires in ventilator motors.
The trial court granted McMillan summary judgment concluding that Minnesota’s 10-year statute of repose barred all of Great Northern’s claims except for the post-sale duty to warn claim, which also failed because McMillan owed no such duty. The Court of Appeals reversed both holdings. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision that McMillan’s motor was “machinery,” to which the statute of repose does not apply. Continue reading “Supreme Court of Minnesota Holds Ventilator Motor Incorporated Into a Home’s HVAC System Qualifies as “Machinery” Excepted From the State’s Ten-Year Statute of Repose”