Court of Appeals
Slip Opinion
NO. COA08-1500
NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS
Filed: 16 June 2009
PAUL CHRISTOPHER BLOW,
Plaintiff,
v.
Pitt County
No. 05 CVS 2396
DSM PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.,
formerly CATALYTICA
PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.,
EASTERN OMNI CONSTRUCTORS,
INC., THE GREENWOOD GROUP,
INC. d/b/a MANPOWER TEMPORARY
SERVICES,
Defendants.
Appeal by plaintiff from an order entered 16 March 2006 by
Judge Jack W. Jenkins in Pitt County Superior Court. Heard in the
Court of Appeals 20 May 2009.
McDonald Law Offices, P.C., by Demyra R. McDonald, for
plaintiff-appellant.
Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P.,
by Mark A. Ash and J. Mitchell Armbruster, for defendant-
appellee.
JACKSON, Judge.
Paul Christopher Blow (“plaintiff”) appeals the 16 March 2006
dismissal of his suit against DSM Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(“defendant”). For the reasons stated below, we affirm.
In August 1999, plaintiff was a temporary employee of The
Greenwood Group d/b/a Manpower Temporary Services (“Manpower”)
-2-
working as a chemical processor at defendant’s plant. Defendant
was a pharmaceuticals manufacturer or processor of chemicals for
the production of pharmaceuticals. As part of its operations,
defendant maintained and operated a Bulk Bromine Storage/Handling
System (“bromine system”). Bromine is a highly toxic and lethal
chemical element that defendant used to manufacture one of the
pharmaceuticals it produced. Its transportation, storage,
handling, and processing are highly regulated to protect workers
and the general public from its hazardous properties.
Due to minor leaks caused by vibrations, defendant and Eastern
Omni Constructors, Inc. (“Eastern Omni”) – its design consultants
– decided to replace a section of transfer line with Multiflex hose
rated at 625 pounds of pressure per square inch (“psi”). However,
what actually was installed was Ultraflex hose rated at 300 psi.
An inspection of the bromine system by an independent chemical
engineering consultant revealed that “certain features of the
sys