Carol Diane Conway, Surviving Mother of Dennis Howard, and Independent Administratrix of the Estate of Dennis Howard…

Summary

The court affirmed summary judgment for the defendants on the plaintiff's negligence, gross-negligence, and breach-of-contract claims arising from her son's death in a lumber-stacking-machine accident. It held that the claims were barred by the applicable six-year statutes of repose, that the evidence did not establish willful or wanton conduct, and that the decedent was not an intended third-party beneficiary of the purchase contract. The court also held that the contract claim failed on beneficiary status without reaching the alternative statute-of-limitations issue.