O'Donnell v. American Mfg. Co.

• Decision Date: 09 May 1904
• Docket Number: 14,920
• Citation: 112 La. 720,36 So. 661
• Parties: O'DONNELL v. AMERICAN MFG. CO., Limited
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

36 So. 661

112 La. 720

O'DONNELL v. AMERICAN MFG. CO., Limited

No. 14,920

Supreme Court of Louisiana

May 9, 1904

Appeal from Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans; Fred D. King Judge.

Action by Cornelius J. O'Donnell against the American Manufacturing Company, Limited. From a judgment for defendant, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

Terriberry & Butler, for appellant.

Dart &amp Kernan, for appellee.

OPINION

NICHOLLS, J.

Statement of the Case.

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the district court rejecting his demand against the defendant for damages for personal injuries received by himself through its fault and that of its officers and agents. In his petition he averred that the American Manufacturing Company, Limited, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Louisiana, and doing business and having a legal domicile in the city of New Orleans, was indebted to him in the sum of $ 15,120 as damages for this, to wit:

That about the month of November, 1901, he went into the employ of the defendant as woodworking machinist, to operate the molder at the plant of the company. That as such woodworking machinist he performed in a faithful, competent manner all of the duties required of him under the terms of his employment. That on or about the 1st day of August, 1902, O'Rourke foreman of the company, ordered him to leave temporarily his place of regular employment at the molder, and to operate the woodworker, a machine with the operation of which he was entirely unfamiliar in the particular class of work which he was by said foreman ordered to perform, namely, the working or reeding of heavier pieces of timber than were ordinarily run through said woodworker. That the foreman, knowing his (petitioner's) inexperience in the operation of said woodworker in the particular class of work aforesaid, ordered O. G. Fernandez, petitioner's fellow employe, to instruct him in the operation of said machine in said kind of work by himself operating the same in his presence. That petitioner did attentively observe the instruction given by said Fernandez, and did carefully note the manner in which he (Fernandez) operated the same, and, following said instructions, he did, on three several occasions during the ensuing ten days successfully operate the same in the particular class of work referred to. That on each of these three occasions referred to he operated said woodworker about 1 1/2 hours, making his total experience in the operation of said woodworker in this particular class of work amount to not more than 5 hours. That the instruction given him by said Fernandez was entirely inadequate, in that it was a demonstration only, and contained no warning of the large element of danger attached to operating said woodworker in the particular class of work referred to, and failed to admonish petitioner of the unusual precautions necessary to be taken, or to advise him of the attention which must be given to certain parts of the machinery in order to avoid injury to the operator.

That petitioner, never having been by any one so admonished or advised, was totally ignorant of the sources of danger in the operation of said woodworker in this particular work. That on the morning of August 11, 1902, while, in accordance with the orders of said O'Rourke, foreman, petitioner was operating said woodworker for the fourth time, and was attempting to run a certain piece of timber through said machine, he met with a painful accident, whereby he lost all the fingers of his left hand and part of the hand itself; said hand having been drawn into the knives of said machine. That in consequence of the accident aforesaid it was necessary for petitioner to be removed to the Touro Infirmary, where he underwent a painful surgical operation, and remained some 11 days, and where he still goes about twice a week for the purpose of having his hand dressed, the wound not having entirely healed at the date of the filing of this petition, some nine weeks subsequent to said accident. That this accident was not the result of any lack of due care on his part in the performance of his duties, or any fault of his, or of any failure on his part to perform his duties in exact accordance with the demonstration made him by Fernandez. That said accident was due solely to the omission of Fernandez, or of any one charged with such duty, to inform him of the proper course to pursue in this emergency, which was the sudden stopping of the machine, resulting from the faulty appliances provided by defendant for the transmission of the power necessary to operate said machine, and to admonish or advise him of the danger incident to operating said machine in said work aforesaid. That the temporary stopping of said woodworker and its subsequent sudden starting was the direct cause of the injury sustained by himself. That, had the belt by which the said machine was driven been properly inspected, and not allowed to become slack or loose, the sudden stopping and starting of the woodworker, which was the direct cause of the injury to petitioner, would not have occurred. Petitioner charged that the accident aforesaid and the damage thereby caused to petitioner were due solely to the fault of said defendant company in its failure and neglect to perform and fulfill the duties required by law of the master, to wit:

In failing to provide him with a safe place in which to do his work, and with safe tools, implements, and machinery with which to work, and in failing frequently, regularly, and thoroughly to inspect and guard against dangers and risks arising out of the operation of said woodworker and machinery of defendant aforesaid at its plant, and in failing to warn petitioner of the danger incident to the operation of the said...