Swanson v. McGraw

LAVORATO, Justice.

The plaintiff, William E. Swanson, Sr., sued two fellow employees, alleging gross negligence under Iowa Code section 85.-20(2) (1983). After the close of Swanson’s evidence, the district court directed a jury verdict in favor of the two defendants. We reverse and remand.

Swanson was an employee of the Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation in Davenport. On the night of January 1, 1985, Swanson suffered a work-related injury when caustic soap he was using to clean some machinery leaked through a hole in his protective rain suit. As a result of the leak, Swanson received a third-degree…