Hanas v. Rasmussen

484 N.E.2d 63, 1985 Ind. App. LEXIS 2884
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 23, 1985
Docket3-185A19
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 484 N.E.2d 63 (Hanas v. Rasmussen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanas v. Rasmussen, 484 N.E.2d 63, 1985 Ind. App. LEXIS 2884 (Ind. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinions

STATON, Presiding Judge.

Walter Hanas appeals from a jury verdict rendered in favor of Ronald Rasmussen. He raises four issues on appeal:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant Hanas's motion for judgment on the evidence;
(2) Whether the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence and contrary to law;
(8) Whether the trial court properly refused certain of Hanas's tendered instructions; and,
(4) Whether the jury's award of damages was outrageous and improperly motivated.

Affirmed.

Private Ronald Rasmussen, a firefighter for the city of Hammond, Indiana, suffered a head injury as a result of a fall from the back of a fire truck as he and his unit responded to an emergency call. Engineer Ronald O'pinker was driving the truck, and Captain Walter Hanas was seated beside him in the cab.

Rasmussen brought suit against O'pinker, Hanas, the mayor of Hammond, and the city of Hammond. The city and mayor were dismissed as defendants. After the conclusion of a jury trial, a verdict was rendered for Rasmussen and against Ha-nas, and for O'pinker and against Rasmussen. Hanas appeals.

I.

Judgment of the Evidence

In reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment on the evidence we look only to the evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom most favorable to the non-moving party. Farm Bureau Ins. Co. v. Crabtree (1984), Ind.App., 467 N.E.2d 1220, 1225; Searcy v. Manganhas (1981), Ind.App., 415 N.E.2d 142, 143. Hanas claims the evidence showed that there was no duty on his part to look out for Rasmus [65]*65sen. However, in Hanas's own testimony he admitted to having a duty under the rules and regulations to watch for privates boarding the rear of the truck. The trial court did not err in denying his motion for judgment on the evidence on this ground.

Hanas further argues that Rasmussen was contributorily negligent and assumed the risk of his injury as a matter of law. Hanas opines that, according to the testimony of an eyewitness, Rasmussen attempted to board the fire truck as it pulled away. However, Rasmussen testified that the truck pulled away just as he boarded it. Where there is conflicting evidence, judgment on the evidence is inappropriate. Farm Bureau Ins. Co. v. Crabtree, id.

Hanas goes on to assert that the risk of injury was assumed because the hazard was open and obvious. See Law v. Yukon Delta, Inc., (1984), 458 N.E.2d 677, 679, reh. denied. A defect must be hidden and unobservable, not open and obvious, for recovery to be allowed. Bemis Co., Inc. v. Rubush (1981), Ind., 427 N.E.2d 1058, 1061. Otherwise there is no duty to warn if the defect is observable. Id. Therefore, the danger Hanas claims to be open and obvious must be observable. Ha-nas also cites City of South Bend v. Estate of Rozwarski (1980), Ind.App., 404 N.E.2d 19, as precluding a suit by one fireman against another for alleged negligence dur-img an emergency run based on the open and obvious rule.

However, Rogswarski is inapplicable. The fireman, Rozwarski, was killed when the fire truck on the back of which he was riding collided with another vehicle. The estate claimed that Rozwarski's injury was caused by the fire truck not having the requisite safety equipment or proper lights in accord with statutory requirements, and that the drivers were not properly trained. Rozwarski, supra, 404 N.E.2d at 21. The defects in the truck were held to be open and obvious because they were not hidden, because Rozwarski had worked around fire trucks for nineteen years, and because those defects were common to all fire trucks. Rozwarski, supra, at 22. Also, Rozwarski, because he occasionally drove fire trucks, would have known whether the training was adequate. Id.

There is no allegation of incompetence of the driver here, nor is there any allegation of a defect in the fire truck. There is, in fact, nothing which can be considered an open and obvious defect. Hanas's argument goes to straight contributory negligence-that Rasmussen acted unreasonably in attempting to board a moving fire truck. The evidence was in conflict on this point, as noted above, and judgment on the evidence would not have been proper. '

Also, Hanas points to evidence in the record that it was raining and the fire truck was sitting outside in the rain. However, there is no evidence on how the rain had affected the fire truck, or whether there was any risk of slipping off the back as a result of the rain, or whether such condition was observable. Therefore, there was no evidence supporting this argument as a ground for granting judgment on the evidence.

In addition, Hanas cites Estes v. Hancock County Bank (1972), 259 Ind. 542, 289 N.E.2d 728, for the proposition that, as the driver had not been found liable for Rasmussen's injury, Hanas cannot be found liable. Estes, however, only holds this to be true if the sole basis for liability of the employer is the action of the employee. 259 Ind. at 545, 289 N.E.2d at 730. Rasmussen's complaint alleges a separate duty on the part of Hanas to make sure firemen boarding the rear of the fire truck are safely on before the fire truck can move.

Similarly, Hanas invokes the fellow-servant doctrine to no avail. That doe-trine holds that an employer cannot be held liable for the injuries of an employee negligently caused by a fellow employee. See Vandalia Railway Co. v. Parker (1912), 178 Ind. 188, 140, 98 N.E. 705. Again, however, we note that a direct and separate duty and act of negligence was alleged [66]*66against Hanas. Therefore, the cases cited for these propositions are inapplicable, and judgment on the evidence was properly not granted.

IL.

Jury's Verdict

Hanas contends that the jury's verdict was contrary to law and the evidence as adduced at trial. When reviewing a claim that a jury's verdict was contrary to law, we set aside the verdict only if it is against the evidence, if there is a total lack of evidence, or if it is contrary to uncontra-dicted evidence. Johnston v. Brown (1984), Ind.App., 468 N.E.2d 597, 601. We will not reweigh the evidence or judge ered-ibility of witnesses, but only determine if the verdict is sustained by substantial evidence of probative value. Id.

Hanas's contentions on this point are essentially the same as those raised above. Hanas contends that the jury should have found contributory negligence as a matter of law, and that the evidence supported a finding of contributory negligence. First we note that the evidence was in conflict on contributory negligence, and we will not reweigh conflicting evidence. Johnson, supra. Second, Hanas argues that as a matter of law Rasmussen was contributorily negligent in that the danger was open and obvious.

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Hanas v. Rasmussen
484 N.E.2d 63 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1985)

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484 N.E.2d 63, 1985 Ind. App. LEXIS 2884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanas-v-rasmussen-indctapp-1985.