Thomas v. Kaiser Agricultural Chemicals

The plaintiff, Ronald D. Thomas, brought this suit in the circuit court of De Witt County for personal injuries received when his face was sprayed with liquid-nitrogen fertilizer as he attempted to fill a fertilizer-applicator machine with the liquid. The complaint charged defendants with both negligence and strict products liability for defective design. Defendants are: Kaiser Agricultural Chemicals (Kaiser), seller of the fertilizer, who, in connection with that sale, supplied the applicator machine; and Certified Equipment and Manufacturing Company (Certified), the distributor of the allegedly defective component part that was incorporated into the applicator machine. Certified filed a third-party complaint for indemnity against OPW Corporation, a division of Dover Corporation (Dover), the manufacturer of the component part alleged to be defective. Kaiser counterclaimed, seeking indemnity from both Certified and Dover.