Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. Donahue

BROWN, Justice.

Jerry Donahue was killed on November 8, 1977, when the front-end loader he was operating rolled over and crushed him inside the fiberglass cab. Afterwards, his wife, Gloria Donahue, initiated this suit, a wrongful death action, against the manufacturer of the loader, Caterpillar Tractor Company (hereinafter Caterpillar). The loader involved here was a caterpillar model 988 wheel loader manufactured in 1966. The case was tried to a jury on the theory that Caterpillar had negligently manufactured the loader in 1966 without a rollover protection structure, also known as a ROPS. At…