Green v. Reynolds Metals Company
| Decision Date | 27 February 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 20908.,20908. |
| Citation | 328 F.2d 372 |
| Parties | Columbus GREEN, Appellant, v. REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Gorman R. Jones, Jr., Sheffield, Ala., Leo Berryman Jr., Tuscumbia, Ala., for appellant.
Clopper Almon, Vincent McAlister, Sheffield, Ala., for appellee.
Before BROWN and WISDOM, Circuit Judges, and JOHNSON, District Judge.
In this diversity action, the case having been removed to the District Court from the Circuit Court of Colbert County, Alabama, the appellant Green claimed damages for personal injuries against Reynolds Metals Company, such injuries having been sustained by Green while in the employment of the A. Nabakowski Company, an independent contractor to the Reynolds Company for the purpose of repairing and replacing the roof on one of Reynolds' aluminum reduction plant buildings known as Pot Room No. 4.1 In this plant Reynolds manufactures aluminum by the reduction of alumina through an electrolytic process in a series of machines called "pots."
At the close of the evidence, Reynolds, as authorized by Rule 50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, presented to the trial judge a written motion for a directed verdict; ruling was reserved upon the motion, the case was submitted to the jury, and a verdict was returned by the jury in favor of the appellant in the amount of $36,208.33.2 Subsequently and timely, Reynolds filed its motion to have the verdict and the judgment entered thereon set aside and to have judgment entered notwithstanding the verdict. A formal order was entered by the trial court granting this motion, vacating the verdict and judgment for Green, and entering judgment for Reynolds. This appeal is from that action, the sole contention being that the District Court erred in setting aside the verdict of the jury and granting the judgment in Reynolds' favor notwithstanding the jury verdict.
The theory of Green's case is that while an invitee on Reynolds' premises he was injured as a proximate consequence of Reynolds' negligence; he alleges ten particulars — in the alternative as authorized by Rule 8(e) (2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure — wherein he says that Reynolds was negligent in failing to provide him with a safe place to work. These ten grounds fall into the following three general categories: (1) That Reynolds negligently failed to furnish a guard rail around the area from which Green fell; (2) that Reynolds negligently allowed a large amount of dust to accumulate on the ledge from which Green fell; and (3) that Reynolds negligently allowed Green to work in the area which was overheated and contaminated with poisonous gases, of which Green was unaware and which caused him to lose consciousness and fall.
Reynolds joined issue on Green's theories and also entered the affirmative defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk.
The evidence — for the most part undisputed — disclosed that Green had been working for the independent contractor, A. Nabakowski Company, engaged by Reynolds to repair and reroof one of its plant buildings. Green had been on this job as "helper" for over three months when the accident occurred at about 2 p. m. on November 10, 1961. It was from a narrow projection of the roof on the inside of the ventilator or monitor, which served to carry the smoke and gases from the aluminum reduction pots in the building, that Green fell some forty feet to the floor. Just prior to the accident, Green's supervisor had instructed him to put up the tools, meaning for him to set them behind the south wall of the ventilator and on the ledge or projection of the roof out of the weather. Green immediately started performing this task, which was one of his daily duties. As a matter of fact, Green had previously worked on and around the ledge from which he fell, including the assisting in removing from the ledge large quantities of dust. No one saw Green fall, and Green, who by reason of the fall suffered a retrograde amnesia, testified that he did not know exactly the place on the ledge from which he fell and that he did not know what caused the fall; the last thing he remembered was that he had just removed his dust respirator. The...
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...through a certain way or means, cannot justify the conclusion that it occurred that way or by that means." Green v. Reynolds Metals Company, 328 F.2d 372, 375 (5th Cir.1964). Conclusion The majority wrongfully authorizes FTCA recovery based on liability ultimately imposed only by federal la......
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...385 (C.A.9th 1925); The Clan Graham, 163 F. 961 (D. Or.1908); 44 A.L.R. 1025 through 1041. 8 n. 7, supra. 9 See Green v. Reynolds Metals Co., 328 F. 2d 372 (5th Cir. 1964); Claybrooke v. Bently, 260 Ala. 678, 72 So.2d 412 (1954); McRee v. Woodward Iron Co., 279 Ala. 88, 182 So.2d 209 (1966)......
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...not based on the evidence but is pure conjecture and speculation. This proposition is undoubtedly sound. See, e.g., Green v. Reynolds Metals Co., 328 F.2d 372 (5th Cir.1964). The second proposition is that, even though an inference supporting the verdict is a reasonable one, it cannot stand......
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...the case to a jury for verdict, even though the evidence appears insufficient, is generally approved. See Green v. Reynolds Metals Company, 328 F.2d 372, 373 (5th Cir.1964); Fratta v. Grace Line, Inc., 139 F.2d 743, 744 (2d Cir.1943). This procedure is based on the idea that the judge, duri......