Bell v. Eastern Beef Co., A--97

• Decision Date: 20 April 1964
• Docket Number: A--97
• Citation: 199 A.2d 646,42 N.J. 126
• Parties: Thomas BELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EASTERN BEEF CO., a corporation of the State of New Jersey, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Page 126

42 N.J. 126

199 A.2d 646

Thomas BELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. EASTERN BEEF CO., a corporation of the State of New Jersey Defendant-Respondent.

A--97 Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued March 17, 1964.

Decided April 20, 1964.

Arnold M. Stein, Denville, for plaintiff-appellant (Pearlman & Krumholz, Jersey City, attorneys; Stein & Einhorn, Denville, and Morris F. Pearlman, Jersey City, of counsel).

Brian D. Conlan, Newark, for defendant-respondent (Gurry & Conlan, Newark, attorneys; Brian D. Conlan, Newark, on the brief).

PER CURIAM.

At a trial before a jury, plaintiff recovered a verdict against defendant for injuries resulting from an accident which was found to have been caused by defendant's negligence. The Appellate Division reversed, unanimously holding that plaintiff had not presented sufficient evidence of negligence to constitute a jury question. We granted certification on plaintiff's petition. 41 N.J. 115, 195 A.2d 14 (1963).

On Monday, September 19, 1960, plaintiff was employed by Food Fair Stores at one of its loading platforms in Elizabeth. At 8:00 A.M. defendant's driver backed one of its trucks up to the platform in order to take on a load of beef. The truck had an insulated body 12 feet in length, the floor and sides of which were made of wood. Defendant's driver, in accordance with governmental regulations, covered the entire floor of the truck with three or four strips of paper laid lengthwise from front to back.

Hinds of beef, weighing about 160 to 200 pounds each, were brought to the rear of the truck on a device equipped with rollers which could be pushed across the concrete platform. From there, plaintiff would take and carry the hinds of beef into the truck and hang them on hooks located on the interior walls of the truck. While carrying the first hind of beef weighing about 160 pounds into the truck and while in about the middle of the truck, plaintiff lost his footing, his 'legs went apart like a split,' he started to fall, but was caught by defendant's driver so that neither plaintiff nor the beef fell to the floor. Plaintiff testified that he told the driver he had hurt his back. Plaintiff noticed that the slipping had moved the paper from the tail of the truck about two feet exposing a part of the floor which was smeared with beef fat. Plaintiff testified that he did not look at the floor underneath the paper at the point where he had slipped, but it felt slick there. When plaintiff came out of the truck, he warned a coemployee who was helping to load the truck 'to be careful because it's slick.' Thereafter, they completed the loading of the truck.

Although the accident did not prevent plaintiff from working the rest of the day, that night, however, his left testicle started to ache and swell. Eventually the testicle had to be removed.

Two of defendant's witnesses testified that the usual practice of the company was to clean the trucks on Saturdays be sweeping and then by using trisodium and steam on the floors. Plaintiff contends that defendant was negligent in supplying a truck with a floor in a dangerous condition. He further contends that defendant's driver, in putting the paper on the truck floor, negligently failed to observe what was on the floor, and that had he observed properly, he would have seen the greasy spots.

The Appellate Division held that the trial court committed reversible error in denying defendant's motions for involuntary dismissal under R.R. 4:42--2(b) and for judgment n.o.v. under R.R. 4:51--2. In ruling on these motions the court must look at the evidence and the inferences which may reasonably be deduced therefrom in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, and if...