White v. Montgomery Ward & Co.
| Citation | 177 S.W. 1089,191 Mo.App. 268 |
| Parties | CHARLES WHITE, Respondent, v. MONTGOMERY WARD & COMPANY, Appellant |
| Decision Date | 14 June 1915 |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Kansas |
Appeal from Jackson Circuit Court.--Hon. Thos. J. Seehorn, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Judgment affirmed.
Battle McCardle and F. L. Barry for appellant.
James B. Peck, F. M. Kennard and Wofford & Kimbrall for respondent.
--Plaintiff was an employee of defendant and had his leg broken while engaged in unloading sugar from a car. He brought this action for damages and recovered judgment in the circuit court.
Defendant is a large mercantile establishment, engaged in business in a large building, into the lower floor of which spur tracks of a railway are laid, over which cars of merchandise are taken in and out of the building. Plaintiff was a laborer engaged in unloading sacks of sugar from a car. He was under the orders and direction of defendant's foreman in that department. As near as we can understand the situation, the car in which was the sugar was standing on one track; next was what is called a "dock," then a car standing on another track, then another dock on which the sugar was placed. The floors of the cars and the docks were about the same height above the ground and were connected by what are called "runways," perhaps four feet long. The sugar was loaded onto a four-wheel truck brought into the car. When the truck was loaded with a sufficient number of the sacks of sugar, plaintiff would take hold of a "tongue" or handle and pull it over the route to the dock where it was to be placed, being assisted by a man pushing from behind. The ends of these "runways" connecting the docks and the cars, were laid on the floor of the cars, extending into them a few inches. After the truck here involved, was loaded plaintiff pulled it out of the car over the runway, across the dock, thence over another runway, through the other car and as he attempted to pass out of the last car across a runway to the last dock, the end of the runway slipped from the car, or at least, slipped so much out of position as to cause it to fall, taking the truck of sugar and plaintiff down with it. The negligence charged relates to the mode of fastening or securing the runway to the floor of the car. There was evidence tending to show that Brown, another employee, nailed a cleat to the floor against which the end of the runway rested and that holes were in the runway itself through which nails were partly driven into the floor. There was further evidence which tended to prove that the end of the runway was some higher than the floor of the car, and while it was secure for trucks coming into the car, it was not for cars going out by reason of the fact that the wheels of the loaded truck would strike it and sometimes throw it out of position.
The real question in the case, as it has been made and presented by defendant, is that the safety of these appliances and ways for unloading the sugar was in the hands of plaintiff and his fellow laborers. That defendant had placed at their disposal proper material and appliances for safely performing their work and if such appliances became unsafe it was the fault of the workmen and not the negligence of the employer. Thus if the end of the runway was not securely fastened to the car floor, it was the negligence of Brown, said to be plaintiff's fellow servant, or perhaps plaintiff's own fault, in not securing it himself.
There is a line of authority, notably in what is termed scaffolding cases, where it is held that if the owner furnishes lumber and material out of which a carpenter is to build scaffolds and from which the carpenter can find suitable material, the owner is not liable for what may happen on account of the insecurity of the scaffolding. [Williams v. Ransom, 234 Mo. 55, 136 S.W. 349; Forbes v. Dunnavant, 198 Mo. 193, 95 S.W. 934; Bowen v. Ry. Co., 95 Mo. 268; Steffenson v. Roch. Co., 136 Mo.App. 225, 116 S.W. 451; Herbert v. Wiggins Ferry Co., 107 Mo.App. 287, 80 S.W....
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