BARKETT, Circuit Judge:
Lilybet Farias appeals from an adverse summary judgment and the denial of her Rule 59 motion for reconsideration in favor of Mr. Heater, Inc., Enerco Group, Inc., and the Home Depot, Inc., (Defendants), on her claims of strict products liability
It is well-established that Florida law imposes a duty to warn "where a product is inherently dangerous or has dangerous propensities" unless such dangers are known or obvious. See Rodriguez v. New Holland North America, Inc., 767 So.2d 543, 544-45 (Fla.3d Dist.Ct.App. 2000). The Defendants do not dispute that they had a duty to warn users of the propane gas heaters of the potential harmful consequences of this product. Instead the parties' dispute is whether the warnings and instructions that Enerco provided with its Mr. Heater propane gas heater were adequate and whether the district court correctly resolved this question as a matter of law, rather than leaving it for the jury's determination.
"While in many instances the adequacy of warnings ... is a question of fact," the Florida Supreme Court has held that it can be resolved as a question of law where the warning is "accurate, clear, and unambiguous." Felix v. Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., 540 So.2d 102, 105 (Fla.1989) (noting that many other courts have held the same). "To warn adequately, the product label must make apparent the potential harmful consequences. The warning must be of such intensity as to cause a reasonable man to exercise for his own safety caution commensurate with the potential danger." Scheman-Gonzalez v. Saber Mfg. Co., 816 So.2d 1133, 1139 (Fla. 4th Dist.Ct.App.2002). The adequacy of a warning is "determined by a `reasonable person' standard, rather than on each particular
Although the allegations in Farias's Complaint and her summary judgment arguments predominately addressed whether the Defendants had a duty under Florida law to provide warnings in the Spanish language,
While we have some doubts about whether the arguments Farias puts forth on appeal were properly raised in the district court,
As to the adequacy of the warnings that the heater could only be used outdoors, the outside of the product's box contained, in addition to others, the following operating instructions and "important safeguards": "This heater is recommended for outdoor use only"; "Always store propane cylinders outdoors in well-ventilated areas"; "Not designed for use in living areas or small tightly enclosed spaces"; and "Propane cylinders should be located outdoors during heater operation." The box also listed as examples of product use: "Construction Sites," "Auto & Truck Repair," "Other Vehicle Maintenance (farm equipment, trailers, etc.)", "Animal Comfort," "Outdoor Jobs," "Thawing & Heating Purposes," and "Recreation, Poolside Areas." Moreover, the boxes had six photos depicting appropriate uses of the heaters, each labeled with the depicted use including, "Loading Docks," "New Construction," "Warehouses," "Splitting Wood," "Patios," and "Home Auto Repair."
The instruction manual also provided the following relevant warnings about the appropriate use of the heater:
Farias argues that the warning about not leaving the heater unattended while sleeping and the warnings about ventilation raise an ambiguity about whether the heater can be used inside of a residential home. She also argues that the pictures of the proposed use of the heater in the warehouse, new construction site and on a patio add to that ambiguity. We however, do not find that the warnings or pictures create any ambiguity about whether the heater can be used inside a residential
The warnings also adequately convey the message that misuse of the heater runs a serious risk of not only fire, but explosions, asphyxiation, carbon monoxide poisoning, electrical shock, and personal injury, loss of life and property damage. Those warnings are provided in bold and capital letters and contain the headings "WARNING." We find these warnings to be "of such intensity as to cause a reasonable man to exercise for his own safety caution commensurate with the potential danger" of fire that occurred due to Farias's misuse of the heater. Scheman-Gonzalez, 816 So.2d at 1139.
Finally, we are unpersuaded that the facts of this case are similar to those in Stanley Indus., Inc. v. W.M. Barr & Co., 784 F.Supp. 1570, 1576 (S.D.Fla.1992), in which the district court concluded that "[g]iven the advertising of defendants' product in the Hispanic media and the pervasive presence of foreign-tongued individuals in the Miami workforce, it is for the jury to decide whether a warning, to be adequate, must contain language other than English or pictorial warning symbols." Unlike in Farias's case, in Stanley Industries, the district court found that the manufacturer and seller of the linseed oil, which caused a fire, engaged "regularly and actively" in general marketing on "Hispanic television, on four different Hispanic radio stations and in Diario Las Americas, a Spanish-language newspaper." 784 F.Supp. at 1573. Just three weeks before the fire, the seller placed an order for an advertisement for the linseed oil to run in Diario Las Americas. Id. Given these facts involving the specific targeting of the largely Hispanic "unskilled or semi-skilled Miami workforce" through the Hispanic media, the district court concluded that a jury should determine if the adequacy of the warnings necessitated them to be in Spanish. Id.
Here, Farias has produced no evidence that Enerco or Home Depot specifically marketed the Mr. Heater in any way to Spanish-speaking customers through the use of Hispanic media. That Home Depot has recently instituted an internal policy for all of its vendors to use bilingual packaging is not evidence of a targeted marketing campaign of the Mr. Heater to Miami's Hispanic community through predominantly Hispanic media outlets.
Because we find no error in the district court's conclusion that the warnings provided with the Mr. Heater were adequate as a matter of law, we hereby AFFIRM the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on Farias's claim of negligent failure to warn.
AFFIRMED.