Reickert v. Hammond Packing Co.

• Decision Date: 19 April 1909
• Citation: 118 S.W. 525,136 Mo. App. 565
• Parties: REICKERT v. HAMMOND PACKING CO.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

118 S.W. 525

136 Mo. App. 565

REICKERT v. HAMMOND PACKING CO.

Kansas City Court of Appeals. Missouri.

April 19, 1909.

1. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 107)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—NEGLIGENCE—PREMISES—DISREPAIR.

Defendant packing company operated a steamroom for washing iron trees by a caustic soda bath. Plaintiff had been in charge of the room for two days before he was injured, but did not know that caustic was used, supposing the bath consisted only of steam and water. The floor of the washroom at the entrance to the steamroom had become worn and eaten by the solution, which escaped so as to form depressions which became filled with solution during the cleaning process; the sill and bottom of the door being likewise worn and eaten away, forming apertures through which the solution escaped to the floor of the washroom. Plaintiff wore no stockings, and his shoes had holes in the soles, so that, when he accidently stepped into one of the pools of solution, his foot was severely burned, forming an ulcer which did not heal. Held, that defendant was negligent in allowing the place to fall into such disrepair.

2. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 153)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—FAILURE TO WARN.

Defendant was also negligent in failing to warn plaintiff of the danger he incurred from the caustic solution under such circumstances.

3. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 101)—INJURIES TO SERVANT—CARE REQUIRED BY MASTER.

A master is not an insurer of the servant's safety, but is only required to exercise reasonable or ordinary care to guard the servant against the risk of injury; the master not being liable for the risks that ordinarily and naturally belong to the service, though he must not increase such risks by his failure to observe ordinary care.

4. MASTER AND SERVANT (§ 295)—INJURIES — INSTRUCTIONS — DANGERS "NECESSARILY" INCIDENT TO EMPLOYMENT.

In an action for injuries to a servant, the court charged that, if plaintiff was employed by defendant, plaintiff assumed all the dangers "necessarily" incident to such employment, but plaintiff did not assume any dangers arising from or caused by defendant's carelessness and negligence. Held, that "necessarily," as so used, meant inevitably, not to be avoided even by the exercise of the highest degree of care, and that the instruction was therefore erroneous as imposing on the master too high a degree of care.

Error to Circuit Court, Buchanan County; Henry M. Ramey, Judge.

Action by Ralph Reickert against the Hammond Packing Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error. Reversed and remanded.

Vinton Pike, for plaintiff in error. Neville & Grier and Ell Holland, for defendant in error.

JOHNSON, J.

Plaintiff sued to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of defendant, his employer. The answer is a general denial. The cause was tried to a jury and is here on writ of error from a judgment in favor of plaintiff.

Defendant is extensively engaged in the business of meat packing at St. Joseph. For two months or more prior to his injury plaintiff had been employed in the washroom of the oleomargarine department of defendant's packing establishment. Within this room was a smaller boxlike room, called the "steamroom," in which the iron trees used in hanging meat were cleaned. The trees were run into the steamroom from the washroom on a track. The door of the steamroom then was closed, and steam was turned into the room and onto the trees through perforated pipes. Caustic soda was mixed with the steam in a way to subject the trees to a bath of hot water strongly impregnated with caustic. The floor of the room was slightly concave to permit the drainage of the solution into a sewer inlet in the center of the floor. After the trees were treated to the bath 15 or 20 minutes, the workman in charge opened the door and by means of a hook pulled them out into the washroom. Squeegees were used to dry the floor. Plaintiff had been in charge of the steamroom for two days before his injury. He did not know that caustic was used in cleaning the trees, but supposed that the bath consisted only of steam and water. He wore no stockings, and his shoes were old and had holes in their soles. From the evidence introduced by plaintiff, it appears that the floor of the washroom at the entrance to the steamroom had become worn and eaten by the solution which escaped from the steamroom to an extent to form depressions which became filled with the solution during the cleaning process. The sill and bottom of the door likewise had become worn and eaten away, forming apertures through which the solution escaped to the floor of the washroom. Plaintiff had just opened the door for the purpose of removing the trees he had cleaned, when...