Ford Motor Co. v. Casey

• Citation: 252 F. 120
• Decision Date: 22 July 1918
• Docket Number: 5044.
• Parties: FORD MOTOR CO. v. CASEY et al.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

252 F. 120

FORD MOTOR CO. v. CASEY et al.

No. 5044.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

July 22, 1918

William F. Gurley and E. G. McGilton, both of Omaha, Neb. (McGilton, Gaines & Smith, David A. Fitch, and L. B Robertson, all of Omaha, Neb., on the brief), for plaintiff in error.

W. C Fraser, of Omaha, Neb. (George A. Keyser, R. T. Coffey, and Crofoot, Scott & Fraser, all of Omaha, Neb., on the brief) for defendants in error.

Before HOOK and CARLAND, Circuit Judges, and AMIDON, District Judge.

CARLAND Circuit Judge.

This is an action brought by George Casey, as plaintiff, against the Ford Motor Company and C. N. Deitz Lumber Company as defendants, to recover damages for personal injuries received by him through the alleged negligence of Ford Motor Company. The Lumber Company was the employer of Casey, within the terms of the Nebraska Workmen's Compensation Law (Laws 1913, c. 198), and it only seeks in this action to reimburse itself for moneys paid to the plaintiff under that law. The action, then, is really between the plaintiff and the Ford Motor Company, hereafter called defendant. The plaintiff assigns as error the refusal of the court to direct a verdict in its behalf. The trial court did take from the jury, whether rightly or wrongly cannot now be considered, all grounds of negligence excepting one. This ground was stated in the complaint as follows:

'That the Ford Motor Company, defendant herein, shortly before July 26, 1916, had constructed a large building for carrying on its business at Sixteenth and Cuming streets, Omaha, Neb.; that said building was so constructed that the entrance to same for the purpose of delivering lumber, such as that delivered by the plaintiff herein, was on the west side of said building through a door large enough to drive through with a team and wagon; that said building was so constructed that a party driving therein, before reaching the interior of said building proper, was obliged to drive through an entrance or passageway slightly wider than the space required for the passage of a team and wagon, and about 10 feet in length; that at the end of said passageway, before entering into the building proper, there was located a door which was slightly wider than the room necessary for the passage of a team and wagon; that the doorway at the entrance of said building was 8 feet 11 inches high, and the doorway at the entrance from said passageway into the building proper was 8 feet 5 1/2 inches in height, * * * and said Ford Motor Company negligently and carelessly constructed said passageway and the door leading into the main part of said building in an unsafe and dangerous manner, for the purpose of driving into and through said passageway and door with loads of lumber similar to the one driven by the plaintiff herein.'

The trial court, after stating to the jury that this claim of the plaintiff was the one claim on which he was entitled to...