Butler v. Berry School

• Citation: 109 S.E. 544,27 Ga.App. 560
• Decision Date: 16 November 1921
• Docket Number: 12441.
• Parties: BUTLER v. BERRY SCHOOL.
• Court: United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)

109 S.E. 544

27 Ga.App. 560

BUTLER v. BERRY SCHOOL.

No. 12441.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, First Division

November 16, 1921

Syllabus by the Court.

"The general rule is that charitable trust funds are not to be depleted by subjection to liability for negligence."

(a) The facts of this case do not take the Berry school out of the operation of the foregoing general rule. It is primarily maintained as a charitable institution, and "is not liable for the negligence of its officers and employees unless it fails to exercise ordinary care in the selection of competent officers and servants, or fails to exercise ordinary care in retaining such officers and employees."

Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.

Errors at the trial were harmless, where the verdict rendered was demanded.

Error from City Court of Floyd County; W. J. Nunnally, Judge.

Action by Wilma Butler, by next friend, against the Berry School. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff brings error. Affirmed.

Frank Copeland and Harris & Harris, all of Rome, for plaintiff in error.

Maddox & Doyal, of Rome, for defendant in error.

BLOODWORTH J.

In 1903 a charter was granted by the superior court of Floyd county to certain persons for "the formation of a corporation to be known as the Boys' Industrial School, for the purpose of carrying on, conducting, and operating a boys' industrial school." Later the charter was so changed by amendment that the name became the "Berry school," and a further amendment provided that it should be "a school for the education of the poor country girls upon the same privileges, rights and principles, and under the same regulations and provisions, as in the original charter and the amendment thereto for the poor boys, so that the said Berry school shall, after this amendment, become a school for the poor country boys and girls alike under the amended charter." The charter makes no provision for capital stock, and the evidence shows that none was ever issued. The evidence further shows that the school is not conducted for private or corporate gain; that none of the officers or directors receive any salary, and the only salaries paid are to the teachers and instructors; that while a nominal charge is made against each pupil able to pay, a number of them never pay anything, and that no student pays anything like his or her per capita expenses of operating the school; that it is supported primarily by voluntary contributions, and that it has never received any funds or property except that "donated by charitably inclined people" for the purpose of carrying out the aims of the school as declared in its charter. The foregoing facts show that the Berry school is a good charitable trust, and comes under the general rule that institutions of strictly eleemosynary character conducted purely and exclusively for public charity supported by public munificence, and having no property except such as was dedicated to charitable purposes, should not be liable for negligence of their agents. The evidence shows also that--

"The school is principally an industrial school, and is to teach them (the pupils) the practical side as well as the theoretical side. At the boys' school they go to school four days and work two. At the girls' school they work two hours each day and go to school the rest of the time. The regular courses along literary lines are given. They work four hours on Monday and two hours in the other days. Along with the literary is carried the industrial training along all lines. They are trained in the carpenter shop, the blacksmith shop, the laundry, cannery, dairy, print shop, farming, and, of course, stock raising. As to the girls' school they are given training in dairy, gardening, weaving, sewing, cooking, housekeeping, just to become homemakers, to go back to the home where they came from, to try to improve conditions there. They are also taught laundry work, Each boy is required to spend a certain time in each department of the boys' school, and the girls the same way; they go from one department to another."

The fact that all the pupils are required to give a portion of their time to work in the various departments of the...