Stockstill v. Sears-Roebuck & Co., 4751
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US) |
| Citation | 151 So. 822 |
| Docket Number | 4751 |
| Parties | STOCKSTILL v. SEARS-ROEBUCK & CO |
| Decision Date | 03 January 1934 |
151 So. 822
STOCKSTILL
v.
SEARS-ROEBUCK & CO
No. 4751
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.
January 3, 1934
T. A. Carter, of Alexandria, for appellant.
Thornton, Gist & Richey, of Alexandria, for appellee.
OPINION [151 So. 823]
TALIAFERRO, Judge.
Plaintiff seeks to recover compensation for injuries received by him from an accident that befell him while in defendant's employ. He alleges that defendant is engaged in a general mercantile business, selling hardware, electric refrigerators, and other merchandise; that it was a part of his duty to arrange the stock of goods on the floor of defendant's business house, and particularly was it his duty to arrange (presumably for display) the electric refrigerators, and to deliver and install same after being sold to customers. He further alleges that while engaged in moving or attempting to move one of the refrigerators, on June 14, 1932, he injured his back, and that since that time he has been unable to do any kind of work or pursue his regular occupation. He alleges permanent total disability and sues for compensation on that basis.
Defendant filed a plea of prematurity and an exception of no cause and no right of action. The exception was sustained and plaintiff's suit ordered dismissed. The plea of prematurity was not tried.
Plaintiff appealed.
Plaintiff does not allege that defendant's business is a hazardous one; neither does he allege that any department or special line of such business is hazardous; and defendant argues that since these allegations are absent, and in view of the fact that a mercantile business is not declared a hazardous business or occupation by the Workmen's Compensation Law of 1914 (Act No. 20), as amended by Act No. 85 of 1926, no cause or right of action is disclosed by the petition. The allegations of the petition are vague and somewhat indefinite; details of fact are lacking, which, if set up, would clarify what now is obscure and vague. However, in view of the liberal construction the courts generally place on the allegations of a petition for compensation, and that the technical rules of pleading and evidence are not strictly applied or enforced in such cases, we believe the exception not well founded in this case, and that a cause of action is set up in the petition sufficiently clear to justify trial on the merits. On this point the Supreme Court in Pierre v. Barringer, 149 La. 71, 88 So. 691, said: "A critical examination of the petition, which is carelessly drawn would show that it does not technically embrace a cause of action. But its general purport shows it to be a suit by an employee against his employer for compensation for an accident while the plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant and while he was supposed to be acting in the performance of his duties." The exception of no cause of action was overruled. See, also, Clark v. Alexandria Cooperage & Lumber Co., 157 La. 135, 102 So. 96.
The business of a merchant is not named by the act as a hazardous...
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...399; Dartez v. Sterling Sugars, Inc., 7 La.App. 414; Tregre v. Kratzer, La.App., 148 So. 271; Stockstill v. Sears-Roebuck & Co., La.App., 151 So. 822; De Lony v. Lane, La.App., 155 So. 476. Thus the fact alone that McMahon drove an automobile or assisted in loading or unloading one is impor......
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Coleman v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 8425
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Staples v. Henderson Jersey Farms, Inc, 5651
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