Bauhs v. St. James Congregation
| Decision Date | 07 June 1949 |
| Citation | 37 N.W.2d 842,255 Wis. 108 |
| Parties | BAUHS v. ST. JAMES CONGREGATION, MADISON. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Dane County; Alvin C. Reis, Judge.
Affirmed.
Action commenced November 18, 1947, by Catherine E. Bauhs, plaintiff and appellant, against St. James Congregation, Madison, a corporation, defendant and respondent, to recover for personal injuries received when she slipped and fell on the sidewalk in front of the church. Defendant demurred to the complaint, which demurrer was sustained by an order dated November 1, 1948, with leave to the plaintiff to amend her complaint within twenty days. On plaintiff's failure to serve an amended complaint within the required time, judgment dismissing the complaint was entered December 8, 1948. Plaintiff appeals. The facts will be stated in the opinion. Spohn, Ross, Stevens & Lamb, Madison, for appellant.
Wilkie, Toebaas, Hart, Kraege & Jackman, Madison, for respondent.
The complaint alleges that plaintiff is a housewife, residing in the city of Madison; that the defendant is a Wisconsin corporation engaged in carrying out the functions of a Roman Catholic church in Madison; that on or about the 20th day of January, 1946, plaintiff was returning from attendance at a Mass in St. James church and while passing along the sidewalk in front of and appurtenant to the premises owned and possessed by the defendant, she slipped and received serious injuries; that the injuries were sustained because of the fault and negligence of the defendant in that the construction and maintenance of the sidewalk was faulty because there was molded in the concrete a cup-shaped depression designed to permit water accumulating on the premises of the defendant to drain to the gutter running along the street; that it had so arranged the downspouts and eaves of its church building that waters falling on its roof were gathered and poured onto and across a concrete approach to the church in such a way as to lead to the depression in the sidewalk; that this was in violation of an ordinance of the city of Madison which provides that no downspouts from any building shall terminate on or upon or in such position that the contents of such spout be cast upon or flow back, upon or over any public sidewalk in the city of Madison; and ‘that on and shortly prior to the said 20th day of January, 1946, rain, sleet and snow had fallen in said city of Madison and ice...
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...cite to cases that ultimately do not support their claims contrary contention. First, while the court in Bauhs v. St. James Congregation, 255 Wis. 108, 37 N.W.2d 842 (1949), held that the duty imposed by the Safe Place Statute extends to "such portions as are used or held out to be used by ......
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Buckley v. Park Bldg. Corp.
...Wis. 28, 29, 64 N.W.2d 428; Baldwin v. St. Peter's Congregation (1953), 264 Wis. 626, 629, 60 N.W.2d 349; Bauhs v. St. James Congregation (1949), 255 Wis. 108, 110, 37 N.W.2d 842. This court has often held that a public sidewalk is not a place of employment. Corpron v. Safer Foods, Inc. (19......
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...is not a structure within the meaning of the statute. Lawver v. Joint District No. 1, 232 Wis. 608, 288 N.W. 192; Bauhs v. St. James Congregation, 255 Wis. 108, 37 N.W.2d 842; Baldwin v. St. Peter's Congregation, 264 Wis. 626, 60 N.W.2d 349; Mistele v. Board of Education, Wis., 64 N.W.2d NO......
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...Wisconsin Supreme Court has consistently held that a sidewalk is not a public building. See, e.g., Bauhs v. St. James Congregation, Madison, 255 Wis. 108, 110, 37 N.W.2d 842 (Wis. 1949) ("It is clear that a sidewalk is not a structure."); see also Meyers v. St. Bernard's Congregation, 268 W......