On March 7, partners Mike Hostetter and Patrick Arndt obtained summary judgment for Whirlpool Corporation in a case pending in Santa Barbara, California.  The case involved a unique set of facts.  A landlord sustained a fire loss to his rental property claiming in excess of $1.2M in damages.  His insurer, State Farm, joined the landlord suing for subrogation and other damages from the tenants.  They  claimed the tenants’ dog turned on a cooktop burner igniting combustible material they had stored on the counter-top and causing the fire. The tenants cross-complained against Whirlpool, the manufacturer of the cooktop, claiming it was defective because it ignited at a control position contrary to Whirlpool’s engineering drawings for the cooktop valve.  The Superior Court granted summary judgment finding that the tenants’ conduct of storing combustible materials on the cooktop, including dog food, and leaving the dog (a large Labradoodle with a history of jumping on cabinets and people) constituted an intervening and superseding act of negligence that relieved Whirlpool of any liability.  The case was set for trial in April.