Johnson v. Otis Elevator Co.

• Decision Date: 21 May 1912
• Parties: JOHNSON v. OTIS ELEVATOR CO.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

211 Mass. 504

98 N.E. 505

JOHNSON v. OTIS ELEVATOR CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex.

May 21, 1912

COUNSEL

R. G. Dodge and H. S. Davis, both of Boston, for plaintiff.

J. & J A. Lowell, of Boston, for defendant.

OPINION

HAMMOND J.

While the plaintiff, as an employé of the defendant, was engaged in the construction of an elevator well in a building then in process of erection, the staging upon which he was standing tipped and he was precipitated from the eighth or ninth floor to the basement and seriously injured.

The staging, of the type commonly called 'Jacob's Ladder,' was suspended in the well and was moved vertically from floor to floor as occasion required. It consisted of two forty-five degrees and resting at their upper joists, hereinafter called foundation joists, running at an angle with the floors of about ends against the vertical wall forming the back of the well, and at their lower ends upon the beam which formed the edge of the floor in front of the well. Near the lower ends of these joists were fastened up-rights which supported one end of a horizontal platform formed of ledger and other boards, the other end of the platform resting on the upper ends of the foundation joists. To prevent the stage from slipping on the floor a piece of board about a foot long and three or four inches wide was nailed to the side of each foundation joist near the foot, projecting below the joist four or five inches and forming what is called a 'crow's foot.' The stage was supported at one end by the back wall of the well and at the other end by the impact of the 'crow's foot' with the front edge of the well. A rope was attached to the center of the platform and was carried over a pulley at the top of the well, so that the stage could be raised or lowered. It is manifest that so long as the lower ends of the foundation joists were firmly kept from slipping the stage was held and could not tip, but that if by reason of any defect in the construction or placing of the crow's feet the foundation joists slipped over on to the floor, then the upper ends of the foundation joists no longer supported by the wall might fall and the stage tip. When the stage was in position, the platform upon which the men stood while using it was only a few feet from the level of the floor next above that against which the feet of the foundation joists were braced, and the platform was approached from this upper floor by the men.

The plaintiff testified that on the morning of the accident he and two fellow workmen went to work drilling holes in the rear wall of the well for the insertion of supports for some brackets which were to be placed there. He testified that he thought that at that time the stage was at the eleventh or 'top' floor. After he had been at work about two hours and a half, during which time the stage had been lowered at least one story, suddenly, while he and one of his fellow servants were standing upon that part of the platform which was close to the rear wall, the platform tipped. As to the manner of the accident a fellow workman who was on the platform with the plaintiff testified: 'All I know happened is that the staging slipped out on the floor, the [foundation] joists slid out, which tipped the platform so as to drop us all down.' It appeared that...