Jaeger v. Evangelical Lutheran Holy Ghost Congregation
| Citation | 219 Wis. 209,262 N.W. 585 |
| Parties | JAEGER v. EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN HOLY GHOST CONGREGATION. |
| Decision Date | 08 October 1935 |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from an order of the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County; Otto H. Breidenbach, Circuit Judge.
Affirmed.
This is an action, commenced on October 29, 1934, by Katie Jaeger, plaintiff, against Evangelical Lutheran Holy Ghost Congregation, defendant, to recover for personal injuries suffered by plaintiff as the result of a fall which occurred upon the premises of the defendant. The action was brought under the safe-place statute. The complaint alleged that defendant is a religious corporation; that it owns and maintains a public building in the city of Milwaukee, used for religious, social, and recreational purposes; that on the 4th day of January, 1934, plaintiff was acting as hostess at a meeting of the Ladies' Aid Society in this building; that in order to provide seating accommodations, defendant provided folding chairs, which were piled in the room in which the society held its meetings; that on the day in question plaintiff, while taking one of the folding chairs from the pile, was injured by the falling of other chairs from the pile. Defendant demurred to the complaint on the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. On January 18, 1935, the court entered an order sustaining the demurrer. Plaintiff appeals.
Rouiller, Dougherty, Arnold & Kivett, of Milwaukee, for appellant.
Quarles, Spence & Quarles, of Milwaukee (Kenneth P. Grubb, of Milwaukee, of counsel), for respondent.
It is conceded by plaintiff that there is no liability based upon negligence, since defendant is a religious corporation. Bachman v. Young Women's Christian Ass'n, 179 Wis. 178, 191 N. W. 751, 30 A. L. R. 448. The sole question is whether the facts alleged bring plaintiff within the provisions of section 101.06, Stats., the so-called “safe-place statute.” This section provides:
[1][2] It is contended by plaintiff, and well established by the authorities, that the safe-place statute applies to corporations organized for religious and charitable purposes. Wilson v. Evangelical Lutheran Church, 202 Wis. 111, 230 N. W. 708;Bent v. Jonet, 213 Wis. 635, 252 N. W. 290. It is plaintiff's position that section 101.06 required defendant to so maintain its building as to render the same safe; that the word “maintain” includes everything not comprehended within the words “construct” or “repair”; and that it imposes not only an obligation to maintain the structure in its original...
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Voeltzke v. Kenosha Memorial Hospital, Inc.
...of a public building or structure nor, in our opinion, could they successfully do so. 1 In Jaeger v. Evangelical Lutheran Holy Ghost Congregation (1935), 219 Wis. 209, 211, 212, 262 N.W. 585, 586, it is 'There is a plain distinction between the obligation of an employer and the obligation o......
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Barry v. Employers Mut. Cas. Co.
...v. Joint Sch. Dist. No. 1 of City of Viroqua, 23 Wis. 2d 641, 647, 127 N.W.2d 800 (1964); Jaeger v. Evangelical Lutheran Holy Ghost Congregation, 219 Wis. 209, 211-12, 262 N.W. 585 (1935). No one has raised this basis for safe place liability, however, and so we do not address it. 5. Zimmer......
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Flodin v. United States
...part of an effort to "repair or maintain the stairway." Id. at ¶ 30. In addition, plaintiff cites Jaeger v. Evangelical Lutheran Holy Ghost Congregation, 219 Wis. 209, 262 N.W. 585, 586 (1935), in which the court held that an owner of a public building could not be held liable under the Saf......
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Heiden v. City of Milwaukee
...corporation. More appropriate language to express that intention could scarcely be employed.” See, also, Jaeger v. Evangelical Luth. Holy Ghost Cong., 219 Wis. 209, 262 N.W. 585. [4] It is our conclusion that the Legislature intended that cities and school districts, as owners of public bui......