Warren Construction Company v. Powell
| Decision Date | 23 November 1909 |
| Docket Number | 21,283 |
| Citation | 89 N.E. 857,173 Ind. 207 |
| Parties | Warren Construction Company v. Powell |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
From Marion Circuit Court (14,906); Henry Clay Allen, Judge.
Action by Hugh Powell against the Warren Construction Company and another. From a judgment for plaintiff against defendant company, it appeals.
Reversed.
Elmer E. Stevenson, for appellant.
Wymond J. Beckett, Byron K. Elliott and William F. Elliott, for appellee.
Action in the lower court by appellee against the Warren Construction Company and the American National Bank, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by reason of the falling of a wall of the American National Bank building in the tearing down of which the appellee was assisting.
The complaint is in one paragraph, and alleges that said defendants, and each of them, are corporations, duly organized; that defendant American National Bank is the owner of the building at the southeast corner of Pennsylvania and Market streets, in the city of Indianapolis, which building was known as the "Federal Building;" that said bank employed its codefendant, the Warren Construction Company, to remodel said building, so as to fit it for use as a bank that the Warren Construction Company exercised at all times supervision of said work; that, pursuant to said employment said construction company undertook to change the basement of the building; that the roof of the basement was composed of arches made of brick, said arches being about four feet wide and based upon I beams, these I beams being composed of large beams of iron or steel, and extending from one wall to another; that by means of said walls, I beams and arches the first floor of said building and the roof of the basement thereof were held in position; that about January 4, 1906, plaintiff was employed by the defendants to work in and about the basement of said building; that the defendants ordered and directed him to work in the basement in remodeling and tearing down a portion of one of the cross-walls; that this wall extended north and south through the basement, was about eighteen feet long and from thirteen to eighteen inches thick, and extended from the floor of said basement up to and supported the ceiling of the basement; that he was ordered and directed by the defendants to remove a part of said wall, which was originally about eight feet high and supported as alleged; that the defendants had removed the upper part of said wall its entire length, had separated the wall from the ceiling which it supported, and had torn said wall down to the height of two or three feet from the floor of said basement; that, at the time plaintiff was ordered by the defendants to work on said wall, the upper part thereof had been removed, and he was directed by the defendants to remove, dig out and tear down the lower part of the wall; that he did not remove or assist in removing the upper part of said wall, but at the time he commenced to work upon the wall the upper part had been removed, and at that time was entirely separate and disconnected from the ceiling of the basement, and was only two or three feet high from the floor of the basement; that while plaintiff was at work on the wall, pursuant to the direction of the defendants, the ceiling of said basement fell at the point where said wall had been removed from the ceiling, and a portion of it fell upon and injured the plaintiff, without any fault upon his part; that the defendants had negligently removed said wall without placing any support under the ceiling at the point where the wall supported the ceiling; that the ceiling of the basement fell by reason of defendant's negligence in failing to prop or stay the same in any way; that the defendants knew there was no I beam or support of any kind at the base of said arch above said wall; that the bricks above said wall were placed straight and vertical, and did not form an arch above the wall, and that the arch was not supported and sustained in position in any way, except by the adherence of the cement to the bricks; that the defendants knew that said arch above said wall was not supported in any way except as last stated, but negligently failed in any way to support or sustain said wall; that the defendants knew that the ceiling in its condition was dangerous and likely to fall and injure any one working on the wall or about the same; that the defendants ordered and directed this plaintiff to work upon said wall under said ceiling, but negligently failed to notify and warn him of the dangerous condition of the ceiling of said basement; that they knew that the ceiling above the wall was not supported by an I beam, or in any other way; that the plaintiff did not know that the base of said arch from which said wall had been removed was not supported by an I beam, and he did not know that said ceiling at said point was likely to fall, neither did he know that the condition of the foot of said arch above said wall was dangerous, and that the same was likely to fall and injure him while working upon said wall; that by reason of the defendants' negligence in failing properly to inspect the foot of said arch above said wall, and by reason of their negligence in failing to sustain said ceiling in any way, the arch fell upon the plaintiff, and injured him about the head, body, back and legs, causing deep, painful and lasting injuries to the head, chest, abdomen, pelvis, etc.; that said injuries are permanent, and have caused, and will cause, plaintiff to suffer great pain and anguish during his life; that he has been unable to work and earn money; that he has been put to large expense in treating said injuries, and he will be a permanent cripple and invalid as long as he lives. Wherefore he demands judgment for $ 15,000, and all other proper relief.
A demurrer on the part of defendant Warren Construction Company, for insufficiency of facts to this complaint, was overruled. Defendant American National Bank answered the complaint in two paragraphs, alleging in one that it had let by contract to the Warren Construction Company, an independent contractor, the work of remodeling its building that it had nothing to do with the work of remodeling the building, except to let the contract. The Warren Construction Company answered by a general denial. There was a trial by jury, and at the close of the trial the court, on motion of the defendant American National Bank, instructed the jury to return a verdict in its favor. A verdict was returned in favor of plaintiff against defendant Warren Construction Company, and damages were assessed at $ 8,500. Along with the general verdict the jury returned...
To continue reading
Request your trial