Bowen, Jewell & Co. v. Adams

59 S.E. 795, 129 Ga. 688, 1907 Ga. LEXIS 551
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided December 21, 1907·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Evans, P. J.

This is an action by Anna Drucilla Adams against Bowen-Jewell Company, to recover damages for the negligent killing of the plaintiff’s minor daughter, who at the time of her death was an employee of defendants. The material parts of the petition relied on as showing that the death of plaintiff’s daughter was occasioned by the defendants’ negligence may be briefly summarized as follows: The defendants operated a bag factory, and the plaintiff’s daughter, aged sixteen, in good health and of average intelligence, was employed in the printing and press room of defendant’s factory. Tn this room were three printing machines. The particular machine at which plaintiff’s daughter worked was what is known as a single printing machine, of old pattern, a second-hand machine, and unlike the other two machines, which were of modern type. The duties of the employee were to feed the single machine, and to clean it when ordered by the defendant’s foreman. One Zimmerman was employed by the defendants to act as “vice-principal or quasi master” over the defendants’ servants 'working in the printing room. On the day of the catastrophe Zimmerman stated to the employees of defendants in the printing room that he had filled all orders on hand, and directed the employees to clean the printing machines underneath. It was Zimmerman’s duty to throw off the main belt that ran from the main shafting to the shafting that was connected to the printing machines, which duty he failed to perform at the time of giving the .command to clean the machines. Instead of throwing off the main belt, he pulled a lever that threw' the minor belt from the machine-where the employee worked to a [690] loose wheel, which caused this machine to stop without stopping the other two machines. This lever was used for the purpose of throwing the minor belt back to the wheel of the printing machine, and putting it in motion. These conditions were not patent, and were unknown to the employee, who had never been warned of the dangers incident thereto. There were two rods underneath the single machine; one of them connecting the levers, and by moving the rod a certain way the lever would shift the belt from the loose pulley to the rigid pulley on the machine, and the machine would be put in motion. The employee did not know that by rubbing the rod attached to the lever the belt would be shifted from the loose pulley to the-machine; nor was such condition visible; nor was the employee warned of the danger. Neither did the employee know that the rod under the machine was attached to the lever. In obedience to the command of Zimmerman, after the single printing machine had been stopped, the employee went underneath the machine for the purpose of cleaning it, and while so employed sh.e moved the rod attached to the lever so as to cause the machine to be put in motion, and without fault on her part she was instantly killed by the machinery. It was alleged that the single printing machine was not fit for the purpose for which it was used; and that it was a risk to work at the same, on account of its pattern and the length of time it had been used.

An oral motion was made to dismiss the petition, because the defendants were not liable in damages for the death of the plaintiff’s daughter, occurring in the manner therein alleged. The court refused to dismiss the petition, and this is assigned as error.

1. The chief dereliction of duty of the master, as alleged, consisted in his failure to warn the servant of the danger incident to her employment, which danger was latent in character, and unknown to the servant. The servant worked at the machine which killed her; but in avoidance of the possible inference from that fact of her knowledge of the machine, and the danger incident thereto, it was alleged that the rod attached to the lever was underneath the machine; that she did not know it was so attached; that the danger from the mechanism was not patent; that she did not know •of the danger, and had not been warned as to the same. These allegations assign a sufficient reason why the servant did not apprehend the unknown peril associated with her employment. [691] Ga. R. Co. v. Rayford, 115 Ga. 937 (42 S. E. 234). The law imposes upon the master, if there are latent defects in the machinery, or dangers incident to an employment unknown to the servant, of which the master knows or ought to know, the duty to give the servant warning in respect thereto. Civil Code, §2611. The servant assumes the ordinary risks of his employment, •and is bound to exercise his own skill and diligence to protect himself. Civil Code, §2612. This assumption.of risk is subject to the limitation that the servant must know, or in the exercise of ordinary care should know, not’ only of - the existence of the defect in -the machinery, but of the danger attendant upon its use, where such danger is not so obvious as to be apparent to a person of ordinary intelligence. Pitts v. Fla. Cent. R. Co. 98 Ga. 655 (27 S. E. 189). It was alleged that the single printing machine was unfit and dangerous oh account of its pattern, and the long time it had been in use. There were two rods underneath it, one attached to the lever which started the machine, and the other connected with other parts of the machinery in such a way that it was not dangerous in handling during the cleaning process. But there lurked peril in the rod attached to the lever. The petition affirms the servant’s ignorance of the danger, and that the peril was not so obvious as to be discernible by the use of ordinary diligence. Under such circumstances the master owed a duty to the servant to warn her of the hidden danger, and the servant, not knowing of the peril, and engaged in the work of cleaning the machine under the master’s order, had a right to rely on the master to perform this duty. We are of the opinion that as against a general demurrer the declaration set forth a cause of action'.

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Bowen, Jewell & Co. v. Adams, 59 S.E. 795, 129 Ga. 688, 1907 Ga. LEXIS 551 (Ga. 1907).

59 S.E. 795 (Bowen, Jewell & Co. v. Adams) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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