Brennan v. Cabanne Methodist Episcopal Church, South

• Decision Date: 20 February 1917
• Docket Number: No. 18436.,18436.
• Citation: 192 S.W. 982
• Parties: BRENNAN v. CABANNE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

192 S.W. 982

BRENNAN v. CABANNE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.

No. 18436.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

February 20, 1917.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Wilson A. Taylor, Judge.

Action by Mary Jane Brennan against the Cabanne Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Wm. F. Woerner and E. E. Schnepp, both of St. Louis, for appellant. Brownrigg & Mason, of St. Louis, for respondent.

GRAVES, J.

This is an action for personal injuries wherein plaintiff seeks to recover damages in the total sum of $20,000. Being cast below upon demurrer, she refused to plead further, and judgment went against her. From such judgment she has appealed.

The demurrer was a general one. The material portion of the petition which was challenged thereby reads:

"That defendant, Cabanne Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is and was at all times hereinafter stated a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of Missouri, particularly article 10 of chapter 33, Rev. Stat. Mo. 1909, and that it is and was at all times hereinafter stated the owner, occupant of, and in exclusive control of a certain building and the land upon which it is situated, located at the southeast corner of Bartmer and Goodfellow avenues, in the city of St. Louis, Mo., used for religious purposes and other public assemblies; and for her cause of action against defendant, plaintiff states that on or about February 10, 1913, she was, by invitation of defendant, on said premises and in said building, and in the exercise of ordinary care, the supports and floor of said vestibule, upon which plaintiff was standing, broke and fell, and plaintiff was thrown into a pit or deep blind excavation under said floor, and upon the bottom of said pit, parts of said floor and the joists and supports thereof fell upon plaintiff in said pit, whereby she was severely, painfully, and seriously bruised, injured, and wounded upon the head, arms, back, body, abdomen, and legs, her back was sprained, and she suffered a comminuted fracture of the right hip and the right ankle.

"Plaintiff, for her assignments of carelessness and negligence on the part of defendant, which directly caused her said injuries, says that the post floor supports of said vestibule of defendant's said building, in and upon which she was standing at the time of her said injuries, were, and long prior thereto had been, weak, decayed, unsafe, and unable to support the weight of persons who might, in the exercise of due care and in the ordinary use of said building, be upon or pass over said vestibule floor, and unable to support the weight of plaintiff and other persons who, in the ordinary use of said building and vestibule, and in the exercise of ordinary care at said time, were upon and were passing through said vestibule and over the floor thereof; that the joists under and supporting said vestibule floor, upon which plaintiff was standing at the time of her injuries as aforesaid, were at said time, and long prior thereto had been decayed, worm-eaten, weak, and unable to support the weight of persons who, in the ordinary use of said building, passed over said vestibule floor, or in the ordinary use thereof assembled therein, or who might in the ordinary use thereof so do, and unable to support the weight of plaintiff and other persons who, at said time in the ordinary use of said vestibule and in the exercise of due care, were, at the time plaintiff received her said injuries, in said vestibule of said building and upon the floor thereof; all of which said decayed, weak, and unsafe condition of said post floor supports, joists, and floor of vestibule of defendant's said building, as aforesaid, defendant, by and through its officers, agents, and employés in charge of said building, well knew prior to the time of plaintiff's said injuries, or by the exercise of ordinary care might have known thereof in time to have put said floor and said building in a safe and secure condition prior to the time of plaintiff's said injuries, and thereby avoid injuring her, but that defendant carelessly and negligently failed to do so, which said carelessness and negligence on the part of defendant directly caused plaintiff's injuries, as aforesaid."

The position of the defendant is that it is a charitable organization, and for that reason is not liable in damages resulting from the negligence of its officers or agents. This is said to be the sole question at issue. Whether it is or not is to be determined along with the determination of the case. Sight must not be lost of the fact that the case is here upon a general demurrer to the petition.

I. A demurrer admits all well-pleaded facts. We gather the contention of defendants from the briefs, and not from the demurrer, because such demurrer is as general as one could be made. The...