El Paso Electric Co. v. Prince

95 S.W.2d 147, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 627
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 7, 1936
DocketNo. 3367.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 95 S.W.2d 147 (El Paso Electric Co. v. Prince) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
El Paso Electric Co. v. Prince, 95 S.W.2d 147, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 627 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

PELPHREY, Chief Justice.

Frank M. Prince, an employee of appellant, met his death by coming in contact with high-tension wires at the Dallas street substation of appellant on January 11, 1935. Appellee, his mother, brought this suit seeking to recover for his death. She alleged the following acts of negligence:

“1. In failing to furnish him a safe place to work in -that the defendant failed to advise or warn or instruct Prince adequately prior to his death that the wires, instruments and equipment in the substation were surrounded by a zone or space within which it would be dangerous for any one to permit any portion of his body to come even though not in actual contact therewith, and in failing to warn him that death might occur should he get too close, even should he not touch the wires or instrumentalities and in failing to warn him as to the distance within which he could safely approach any of the appliances.

“2. In permitting Prince to undertake to work on the equipment in the substation under the existing circumstances in view of his inexperience.

“3. In that defendant’s agents instructed Prince to paint the caps over circuit breaker 2302 without deadening the equipment on which he was instructed to work.

“4. In that defendant’s agent on the date in question used language which Prince would and did reasonably understand as amounting to an instruction to him to paint the caps on the job on which he had worked the day before, the defendant knowing same to be alive with deadly current.

“5. If defendant did not specifically direct Prince to paint the caps over circuit breaker 2302, through its agents it failed to use ordinary care and was negligent in not specifically directing Prince as to what other portion of the equipment he should paint, if in fact the defendant intended for him to paint any equipment other than the caps over 2302, as the defendant knew or in the exercise of ordinary care should have known that Prince would attempt to complete the job which had been left unfinished the day before, and would attempt to paint the caps on circuit breaker 2302 which it knew to be deadly, but which Prince did not know.

“6. That the work being done by defendant in the substation, in order to be carried on safely, required the services of experts therein with accumulated experimental knowledge as electricians in the handling of the substation, which was highly technical, complicated and dangerous, and all of this was known to defendant and unknown to Frank Prince, who supposed that he had the ability to do the work, but was in fact not skilled or versed therein and lacked knowledge and experience and skill in such work and relied on the supposition that the defendant would not permit him to engage in work, which, due to his inexperience would endanger his life; and the defendant knowing his inexperience, failed to use ordinary care and negligently permitted him to undertake highly hazardous work, knowing that the caps over circuit breaker 2302 were charged with electricity which would produce death to a human being coming in contact therewith.

*148 “7. The defendant failed to warn the said' Prince and inform him that the caps and equipment over circuit breaker 2302 actually carried sufficient current to cause him serious injury or death.

. “8. That each and all of the above acts of omission and commission on the part of the, defendant were negligent ¿nd'the proxi-’ mate cause of Prin.ce’s death. . ' ,

“The petition closed with the allegation that when he received his injuries Prince was acting under the instructions of defendant's agents who were as to him vice' principals and his superiors 'acting in 'the scope of their authority, following with a prayer for relief.”

In answer appellant pleaded a general denial ; that its equipment in the Dallas street substation was standard, up-to-date, modern’ equipment in good order and condition, and that the deceased met his death solely and proximately as a result of his own negligence, without defendant’s fault; that he was not instructed to do what he attempted to do, but voluntarily assumed and undertook to do and perform work .not assigned to him and where he was not supposed to be and in violation of- instructions; that he’ was advised and warned of the danger of attempting to work on equipment where he was injured, unless he got a clearance and' a danger tag was attached and all switches or disconnects pulled; that he was'warned of the danger if he came into contact with any of the equipment, without taking these precautions, and the danger was fully explained to him; that in the face of these warnings and in violation of rulqs with-which he was familiar, he attempted to climb upon highly charged electrical equipment, or work thereon, at a place where there was no danger tag and for which no clearance had been received, and when and where the disconnects or contact switches had not been pulled, and at a time and place when and where he knew and in the ordinary course of his employment should have known that the equipment was carrying high-voltage current, and that it was dangerous for him to come into contact therewith and he voluntarily assumed the risk incident thereto, which was negligence proximately resulting in his death.

The defendant alleged that the deceased had received a copy of the defendant’s rules book and he was familiar therewith; that said rules provided that he should familiarize himself therewith and he was informed that he would be expected to abide by same; that among other things, it was provided therein by rule 43 : “Any employe about to work on any machinery shall before doing any such work protect himself and fellow employes on the same work, against- its accidental starting by reporting same to the engineer on watch and see that the apparatus is properly tagged with a danger tag. The apparatus shall not be started until the tag is removed except when it is necessary to start apparatus after the work has been completed for test and then only by the employe to whom the apparatus is tagged and only after he has made certain that no employe is near the apparatus.”

It was further alleged that the deceased in the face of and in violation of said rule failed to comply therewith and attempted to climb upon or work upon machinery which’ was not tagged with a danger tag and upon which a clearance had not been received and where he was not told to work; that it was provided in said rules that on circuits above 220 volts an employee should not depend upon oil switches or compensator for killing the circuit, but he should pull the disconnects after opening the breaker, which he failed to do; that he was informed and knew that the equipment carried voltage above 220; that had he complied with those rules and had he opened the breakers which were prescribed in the rules, he could and would not have been injured, and he was negligent in all of these particulars.

In response to special issues, the jury found:

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Bluebook (online)
95 S.W.2d 147, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/el-paso-electric-co-v-prince-texapp-1936.