Downs v. Corder, 51566
| Citation | 377 So.2d 603 |
| Decision Date | 05 December 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 51566,51566 |
| Parties | Mary B. DOWNS, Administratrix of Estate of James Otis Downs and U. S. F. & G. Company v. James W. CORDER, Jr. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Robertshaw & Merideth, Gary P. Snyder, Greenville, Smith, O'Hare & Atkinson, Boyd P. Atkinson, Cleveland, for appellant.
Campbell & DeLong, James L. Robertson, Greenville, for appellee.
Before ROBERTSON, LEE and BOWLING, JJ.
This appeal is from an order of the Circuit Court of Sunflower County sustaining a demurrer to the declaration of appellant, Mary B. Downs, Administratrix of the Estate of James Otis Downs, deceased. The sole question before this Court is whether or not the declaration alleged facts sufficient to set out a cause of action that would withstand a demurrer. The merits of the case, after testimony is presented to prove the alleged cause of action, are not now before the Court.
The declaration alleged that the deceased, James Otis Downs, was employed by Green Refrigeration Company of Indianola, Mississippi. It further alleged that the defendant/appellee had contracted with Mississippi Valley Gas Company to install a complete central heating and airconditioning unit in appellee's home. Mississippi Valley Gas Company in turn contracted with Green Refrigeration Company, employer of the deceased, to do certain work necessary for the installation, including all necessary duct work.
The declaration further alleged that on August 24, 1977, the deceased, while working for his employer,
. . . (M)ore specifically under defendant's house, pursuing his normal work duties for Green Refrigeration Company, that of wrapping installation material around the airconditioning duct work that had been installed early that morning by a co-worker. Decedent, while attempting to wrap the aforementioned duct work, came in contact with uninsulated wiring hanging from an uncovered junction box, and, as a result, died from electrocution. . . .
Said uninsulated wiring was not due to any repairs or maintenance that had been performed by Green Refrigeration Company in connection with the installation of the heating and airconditioning unit in the home of the defendant, James Corder, Jr., but was a latent condition that had existed for sometime prior to August 24, 1977.
It was further alleged that:
Furthermore, Green Refrigeration Company and its employees because of the nature of the work to be performed for Mississippi Valley Gas Company of Greenville, Mississippi, for the benefit of the defendant, James W. Corder, Jr., were not put on notice in any way, nor had any reason to believe, that there were any hidden defects or dangers on said defendant's premises . . . Plaintiff alleges that her husband's death was a direct result of the negligence and carelessness of the defendant in maintaining wiring in such a dangerous, defective condition as it was on the afternoon of August 24, 1977. Plaintiff further alleges that defendant knew or should have known that wires with unprotected ends had never been disconnected from the power source, and, therefore, created an extremely dangerous condition under his house for the decedent and other workers. Plaintiff states that the defendant failed to inspect the crawl space under his house for the purpose of discovering defective, dangerous wiring and failed to repair, disconnect or remove any such defects or dangers which would have been shown by a proper inspection . . . that the defendant failed to furnish to the decedent a safe place to work and further failed to warn decedent of the dangerous and defective condition of the electrical wiring under defendant's residence.
The declaration went on to allege that the decedent was not an electrician and had no expertise in that field and did not hold himself out to the public as such.
The lower court, in sustaining the demurrer to the declaration, relied primarily on the cases of Jackson Ready-Mix Concrete v. Sexton, 235 So.2d 267 (Miss.1970), and Spruill v. Yazoo Valley Oil Mill, Inc., 317 So.2d 410 (Miss.1975). Appellee contends that these cases are controlling in the present case. Before discussing these cases as they apply to the "allegations" of appellant's declaration, we need to set out the general law in regard to the charges in the declaration as reflected by the textbooks and cases.
In 65 C.J.S. Negligence, section 63, page 734, the rule is stated that The owner, occupant, or person in charge of premises owes to invitees or business visitors thereon the duty of exercising reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe and suitable condition, or of warning invitees or business visitors of hidden or concealed perils of which he knows or should know in the exercise of...
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