Daniels v. MacGregor Co.

197 N.E.2d 427, 94 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 26 Ohio Op. 2d 196, 1964 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 301
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County
DecidedJanuary 10, 1964
DocketNo. A-179897
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 197 N.E.2d 427 (Daniels v. MacGregor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniels v. MacGregor Co., 197 N.E.2d 427, 94 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 26 Ohio Op. 2d 196, 1964 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 301 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1964).

Opinion

Renner, J.

Plaintiff, Virgil A. Daniels, in this action seeks to recover damages for personal injuries which he sustained on June 11, 1960, when he fell from a ladder while he was engaged in work connected with the installation of light fixtures in a building occupied by The MacGregor Company, defendant herein.

Defendant has filed a motion asking the court to enter a summary judgment in its favor.

The pleadings, the deposition of the plaintiff and the affidavits supporting and opposing the motion for the summary judgment, and the stipulation filed December 24, 1963, reveal the following facts:

Plaintiff was employed by Manpower, Inc. Manpower, Inc. is a corporation that provides temporary help and business service to individuals and companies. Upon request Manpower dispatches the number of skilled or unskilled personnel asked for to the premises of those applying to perform whatever services are requested of them in keeping with their particular skill or work. The persons reporting to the job receive instructions from the customers as to what tasks are to be performed in and about the customer’s premises.

Manpower retains the exclusive right to hire and discharge its employees and to determine which of its employees are to be assigned to its customers. It also reserves the right to [308]*308remove and to reassign its employees from one customer to another during the course of a workday.

Manpower is paid by its customers on the basis of a fixed rate for each man-hour of work performed by its personnel for the customer. The wages paid to Manpower’s employees have no direct relation to the amount paid to it by its customers and Manpower’s customers make no payments to its employees.

Manpower deducts from its employees’ wages the income and social security taxes and similar deductions and no such deductions are made by its customers. Manpower also pays all Workmen’s Compensation premiums and Unemployment Compensation payments for the protection of its employees and no such payments are made by Manpower’s customers.

At the request of the defendant, The MacGregor Company, the plaintiff and four other employees were told by Manpower to report to the maintenance foreman of The MacGregor Company at its premises. They were instructed by Manpower to perform whatever services were requested of them under the specific direction of MacGregor Company employees. No equipment of Manpower was on the MacGregor’s premises and all the equipment that was used by Manpower’s personnel was the property of MacGregor. There is no evidence that during the period plaintiff was at work at The MacGregor Company that Manpower had any of its officers or employees on the premises of MacGregor to instruct, supervise or direct the work which Manpower’s personnel performed for MacGregor.

In his deposition plaintiff’s recollection was that he and the other Manpower employees had worked at The MacGregor Company all week, from Monday until Friday, when he was injured.

Plaintiff was paid by Manpower at the rate of one dollar an hour for the work performed by him at MacGregor.

Manpower, Inc., and the MacGregor Company each employed three or more workmen or operatives and were amenable to, and both of them were in compliance with the Workmen’s Compensation Law of Ohio prior to and at the time Daniels was injured.

As a result of a claim made on behalf of the plaintiff through Manpower to the Ohio Bureau of Workmen’s Compen[309]*309sation, for tbe same injuries set forth in the petition herein, the plaintiff was receiving weekly compensation benefits from the state insurance fund up to the time his deposition was taken at Houston, Texas, on July 25, 1961.

Counsel for defendant contend that although Daniels remained the general employee of Manpower during the time he worked at MacGregor, he was before and at the time of his injuries, an employee of MacGregor and that MacGregor having complied with the Workmen’s Compensation Laws, Daniels is precluded from maintaining this action by virtue of the provisions of Section 4123.74, Revised Code. In support of this contention they cite 35 American Jurisprudence, Section 541, at page 970, wherein it is stated that—

“The fact that a person is the general servant of one employer does not, as matter of law, prevent him from becoming the particular servant of another, who may be held liable for his acts. Indeed, as a general proposition, if one person lends his servant to another for a particular employment, the servant, for anything done in that employment, is dealt with as the servant of the one to whom he has been lent, although he remains the general servant of the person who lent him. * * and Halkias v. Wilkoff, 141 Ohio St., 139 (25 Ohio Opinions, 257), in which the Court, at page 151, quoted from Rourke v. White, Moss Colliery Co. (Eng. L. R.), 2 C. P. Div., 205, as follows:

“* * * when one person lends his servant to another for a particular employment, the servant for anything done in that particular employment must be dealt with as the servant of the man to whom he is lent, although he remains the general servant of the person who lent him.
“If the employer temporarily loans his general servant to assist the contractor, and the servant thereby comes under the control of the contractor, the original relation of master and servant ceases and the contractor alone is liable for the negligence of the servant while he has control of his movements.” and another case to the same effect, Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Spieker, 103 Ohio App., 455, 3 Ohio Opinions (2d), 493, syllabus paragraph 1 of which reads:
[310]*310“Where the owner of a mobile crane in charge of employees of the owner loans the crane and employees to another for the performance of particular work to be carried out as directed by the person to whom the equipment is loaned, the employees are the servants of the latter, while the work is being performed, although they remain the general servants of the party who loaned them.”

A motion to certify the record in that case was overruled.

None of the above cases involved the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

Counsel for plaintiff contend that the applicable Ohio authorities clearly demonstrate that Daniels, under the facts presented here, is not barred from maintaining this action. In support of this contention they cite Trumbull Cliffs Furnace Co. v. Shachovsky, 111 Ohio St., 791, as the leading case, and George v. City of Youngstown, 139 Ohio St., 591, 23 Ohio Opinions, 91, and Babbitt v. Say, 120 Ohio St., 177.

The syllabus in Trumbull Cliffs v. Shachovsky must be considered in the light of the facts in that case. There is nothing in the report of that case which suggests that Trumbull Cliffs had exercised any supervision or control of Shachovsky in connection with the work he was doing; in fact, Truscon Steel Co., his only employer was, at the time an independent contractor performing work for Trumbull Cliffs. Trumbull Cliffs made no claim that Shachovsky was its employee under the lent servant doctrine. It attempted to relieve itself from liability to Shachovsky on the theory that it was the employer of Shochovsky by virtue of the provisions of Section 1465-61 (3), General Code.

In the next case, George v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
197 N.E.2d 427, 94 Ohio Law. Abs. 306, 26 Ohio Op. 2d 196, 1964 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniels-v-macgregor-co-ohctcomplhamilt-1964.