Benton v. Trs. of the City Hosp. of the City of Boston

• Citation: 140 Mass. 13,1 N.E. 836
• Parties: BENTON v. TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL OF THE CITY OF BOSTON.
• Decision Date: 20 June 1885
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

140 Mass. 13

1 N.E. 836

BENTON

v.TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL OF THE CITY OF BOSTON.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

Filed June 20, 1885.

This was an action of tort, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff by falling down a flight of stairs in the city hospital of Boston, on account of the alleged unsafe condition of the board coverings of said stairs. The superior court ruled that the action could not be maintained under the circumstances, and directed a verdict for the defendants. The plaintiff appealed.

C.G. Keyes, for plaintiff.

T.M. Babson, for defendants.

FIELD, J.

If the trustees are regarded as the trustees of a public charity, then the case falls within the decision in McDonald v. Massachusetts General Hospital, 120 Mass. 432. There is no evidence of negligence on the part of the trustees as a corporation. There is evidence of negligence on the part of the superintendent, but there is no evidence that he was not a proper person to be appointed superintendent. But we think that this is a hospital maintained by the city, with such aid as may be derived from donations, and the dues received from paying patients, and that the trustees are, in a sense, managing agents only, in maintaining the hospital subject to the laws and to the ordinances of the city. The donations, if any are ever made, must be used according to the terms of the gift. The money appropriated by the city of Boston must be used according to the terms of the appropriation. The sums received from paying patients are by the ordinances to be “credited to the account of the hospital,” and are “used in support of the hospital.” All the funds are used for the purpose of maintaining the hospital in accordance with St.1858, c. 113. The corporation of the trustees of the city hospital of the city of Boston has, in fact, no property. St.1858, c. 113, is a special and not a general statute, and it is permissive and not imperative; but these distinctions do not render the city liable for negligence in the management of the hospital, as has been shown in Tindley v. Salem, 137 Mass. 171. The trustees are a body created for the performance of a duty which, under the authority of the statute, the city of Boston has assumed for the benefit of the public, and from the performance of which no profit or advantage is received either by the trustees or the city. The trustees are no more liable for the negligence of their officers and agents than...