Gaw v. Hew Construction Co.

15 N.E.2d 225, 300 Mass. 250, 1938 Mass. LEXIS 916
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedMay 24, 1938
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 15 N.E.2d 225 (Gaw v. Hew Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gaw v. Hew Construction Co., 15 N.E.2d 225, 300 Mass. 250, 1938 Mass. LEXIS 916 (Mass. 1938).

Opinion

Dolan, J.

These are two actions of tort. The first is brought to recover compensation for personal injuries sustained under circumstances which will be hereinafter described. The second action is for consequential damages. The actions were tried together before a judge of the Superior Court, without a jury, who made certain findings of fact and found for the defendant in each case. The cases come before us on the plaintiffs’ exceptions to the denial of certain requests for rulings which were predicated “on all the evidence,” and on their exceptions to the general findings of the judge for the defendant. None of the evidence is set forth in the record, but it is therein stated that “There was evidence which would warrant the findings of the court.” In these circumstances the exceptions to the denial of the requested rulings cannot be sustained, because they rest on the sufficiency of evidence which is not set out in the record. Barnes v. Springfield, 268 Mass. 497, 504; Household Engineers Inc. v. Ryder, 277 Mass. 523. While the plaintiffs pursued the correct practice by the requested rulings to raise the question of law whether the evidence was sufficient to warrant findings for them, they rendered [252]*252the exceptions to their denial ineffective by failure to see that the bills of exceptions included all that is necessary to decide whether the denial was or was not erroneous. See Forbes v. Gordon & Gerber, Inc. 298 Mass. 91, 94-95, and cases cited. See also Posell v. Herscovitz, 237 Mass. 513, 516, and cases cited.

The remaining exceptions of the plaintiffs are to "the findings of the court for the defendant” in each case. By his ultimate findings for the defendant the judge impliedly ruled that on all the evidence those findings were warranted as matter of law. In the ordinary case of a trial on evidence the party wishing to raise a question of law must do so before the trial is over, and if he fails to do so, or, as in the case at bar, having done so fails to have included in the bill of exceptions all that is necessary to decide whether the judge erred, an exception to the general finding or decision of the judge brings no question of law before us. See Keohane, petitioner, 179 Mass. 69; Baker v. Davis, 299 Mass. 345, 348; Posell v. Herscovitz, 237 Mass. 513, 516.

In the case at bar, however, the judge in his findings of fact at the point just before his general finding for the defendant in each case stated: "I find and rule that the blocking of the passageway as aforesaid was not the direct and proximate cause of the accident; nor did it constitute a nuisance.” The judge thus ruled that the subsidiary facts found by him warranted the findings that the blocking of the passageway was not the proximate cause of the accident and did not constitute a nuisance, and hence also warranted his ultimate findings for the defendant. See Sylvester v. Shea, 280 Mass. 508. We interpret the words "as aforesaid” to mean that the judge reached his conclusions on the basis alone of the subsidiary facts found by him which the plaintiffs concede were warranted by the evidence, and are of opinion that the case stands as one where all the material subsidiary findings of fact have been made and that the plaintiffs’ exceptions to the general findings of the judge for the defendant in these circumstances bring before us the question of law whether those findings were permissible on the subsidiary facts found, under the rule stated [253]*253in Leshefsky v. American Employers’ Ins. Co. 293 Mass. 164, 167.

The findings of the judge other than those just referred to and his general findings for the defendant are as follows: “On January 15, 1935, and for some time prior thereto the defendant construction company was engaged in erecting a building at 407 to 411 Washington Street in Boston in pursuance of a contract with the lessee of the premises. On December 3, 1934, it was granted the use of the sidewalk in front of these premises under a permit issued in accordance with Chapter 27, section 9, of the Revised Ordinances (1925) of the City of Boston. An express condition of the acceptance of the permit was that the defendant ‘ shall place and maintain a safe and convenient way for the use of foot travellers and vehicles around or over such place.’ In pursuance of this permit and in compliance therewith the defendant provided a passageway on the sidewalk adjoining the premises at 407 to 411 Washington Street by constructing an overhead wooden structure twelve feet above the sidewalk. It ran parallel to the sidewalk in front of said premises for about forty-two feet and was about nine feet in width. There was a prow extending from the top upwards to guard against anything that might fall into the street. It was supported by two sides; the one directly against the building was made up of studs and panels and closed in the building, the other or the section nearest the street had railings extending the length of the structure so that persons walking through the passageway could not get out on to the street. This structure afforded a safe and convenient way for foot travellers to continue along the sidewalk in front of these premises. At about 1:15 p.m., on January 15, 1935, the plaintiff, Irene Gaw, passed through said passageway to go to a nearby store where she remained but a short while. When she came out she approached the entrance to the passageway and found it-blocked by cross bars. She then walked off the sidewalk into the street to go around the structure and while walking in the gutter in front of said premises she slipped on a natural accumulation of ice about twenty inches square, [254]*254fell and broke her ankle. The presence of the ice in that portion of the street upon which she fell was not attributable to any neglect of those for whom the defendant was responsible. There was no unnatural accumulation of snow and ice at the place where she fell nor was there any accumulation of dirt, rubbish or other materials as alleged in her declaration. The plaintiff at the time of the accident was in the exercise of due care. The passageway at the time of her stepping into the street was blocked temporarily for the purpose of delivering materials for use in the building and did not remain blocked for an unreasonable length of time.”

Even if the violation of the terms of the permit granted to the defendant constituted a violation of the ordinance under which it was issued, while “It is the law that a violation of a statute or ordinance is evidence of negligence. . . . Equally clearly, it is established that such evidence does not make out actionable negligence, unless the violation can be shown to have been actually a proximate cause contributing to the injury suffered.” Milbury v. Turner Centre System, 274 Mass. 358, 361, and cases cited. See also Stowe v. Mason, 289 Mass. 577, 583; McKenna v. Andreassi, 292 Mass. 213, 217, 218. Moreover, the violation of an ordinance is not conclusive proof of negligence but it may be considered by the judge in passing upon the question. See Finnegan v. Winslow Skate Manuf. Co. 189 Mass. 580, 582. “It may be only a circumstance and not a cause, and the question is generally one of fact.” Stowe v. Mason, 289 Mass. 577, 583.

The conclusions of the judge that the obstruction in question was not the direct and proximate cause of the accident and did not constitute a nuisance find support in Smith v. Locke Coal Co. 265 Mass.

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Bluebook (online)
15 N.E.2d 225, 300 Mass. 250, 1938 Mass. LEXIS 916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaw-v-hew-construction-co-mass-1938.