Hartman v. Kloeppinger

9 Ohio C.C. 433
CourtOhio Circuit Courts
DecidedJanuary 15, 1895
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Ohio C.C. 433 (Hartman v. Kloeppinger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Circuit Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartman v. Kloeppinger, 9 Ohio C.C. 433 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1895).

Opinion

Haynes, J.

In this case a petition in error has been filed by the plaintiff below against the defendant in the court below, for the purpose of reversing the judgment of the court of common pleas which was rendered in favor of the defendant below and against the plaintiff below. The ease went to trial upon what is called the second amended petition and the answer to it, and is a case in which an action was brought by Philip Hartman against the defendant, Kloeppinger, for alleged injuries which were received by the plaintiff while in the employ of defendant, and which injuries occurred by the falling of a certain scaffold that was being used by the workmen of the defendant to stand upon while they were putting in place the outside plates upon a certain building where the defendant had a contract. The plaintiff in error [434]*434claims that defendant was guilty of negligence in that he did not furnish him with a safe appliance with which to work— that that was not done. He avers that this platform upon which he was called to work, was attached to or held upon the roof by a certain timber into which a hook holding the 'platform was inserted, and that by reason of the defective manner in which this piece of timber was attached to the roof and in which the hook was adjusted to the timber, the timber broke and the scaffold fell, and the plaintiff was injured.

Issue was taken upon this by the defendant, and the case went to trial. Testimony was offered by both parties, and at the close of the testimony, the defendant requested the court to give in charge to the jury certain propositions of law, and the case was argued here mainly upon these requests to charge and the charges which were given by the court, and upon alleged errors in that respect.

The testimony showed, I think, substantially, this state ot facts : That the plaintiff being in the employ of Kloeppinger, who had a contract for the placing of plates upon a certain building, he and two or three other persons who were also in the employ of defendant, were sent down to the building to carry on the work; that they went down to the building, and, in order to carry on the work, it became necessary to place some timbers upon the building for the purpose of supporting a scaffold upon which they were to stand; that thereupon the men themselves went to work and found some timbers which were there about the building, and proceeded to fasten them upon the building, the work being largely done by a man named Hege, but that Hartman was with him assisting him in this; that he held the hooks that supported the platform and adjusted those in their place in the timbers. The timbers were placed upon the roof and fastened by nails, several nails being driven into them, and then there is a hole bored or scooped into this piece of timber, and into that a hook which supports the platform is placed; and, to hold it there, ¡t is customary and usual to fasten the hook with certain wires [435]*435It is claimed that this had been done at this time. After that adjustment was made Hege got upon the platform, also Hartman, one at one end of the platform and the other at the other, and they commenced to raise the platform to a position where they were to work. After they had got up to the point where they desired to have the platform stop, they stopped, and Hege fastened the rope which he had around the platform in some manner so that it would hold the platform at that place. But Hartman was unable to hold the rope and fasten it at the same time; he could not hold it with one hand, and thereupon he asked Hege to come and assist him, or to hold the rope while he fastened it. Hege went to his assistance, and when he got over at that point the weight of both was .such that the timber above gave way and the platform was precipitated to the ground, and in falling Hartman received severe injuries which resulted in the loss of his leg.

Evidence has been given on the part of the defendant tending to show that the work had been carried on some times in a different manner; but that the workmen desired to have the work done by the use of the scaffold ; and thereupon the defendant went and got an oak plank, such a one as he considered suitable for the purpose, to fasten upon the roof to 'hold the hooks of the platform ; that through this plank holes were bored for the purpose of nailing it to the roof, so that the nails would fasten through and not split the plank, and that he, defendant, purchased a certain class of wire, which was strong, to be used for the purpose of holding the hooks in place; and that he expected that these instrumentalities would be used by the workmen. In fact, the testimony shows that those which were furnished by the defendant were used for a day or two on the first side, but that these workmen not desiring to use them further, or for some other reason, did not use them, but went to work of their own motion and obtained from about the building the planks which were used, and also ■obtained from some place in the building the wires which [436]*436they used, and which were not the wires which were furnished by defendant. There was testimony offered back and forth tending to show that the defendant, in speaking to the men to go down and go to work there, had spoken to but one of the men, and it was claimed from that fact that he was practically put in charge of the other one by the defendant, Kloeppinger. This was denied on the part of Kloeppinger, and the issue went to the jury, and so with some other matters which were raised. Testimony was given on one side tending to prove one set of facts, and on the other tending to deny that state of facts, and all these questions were left to the jury.

The plaintiff claims that the court, in charging the jury, erred in the giving of two requests to the jury. If I have these correctly numbered, they were numbered 13 and 15. No. 13 reads:

“The jury are instructed, asa matter of law, that Hege was the fellow servant of the plaintiff, and the defendant is not liable for any negligence or carelessness which the evidence may show was committed by him.”

In reference to that part of the charge, it should be observed, first, that the various petitions, and especially the second amended petition on which the ease was tried, declare that the men who accompanied the plaintiff, and the man Hege, who was upon the platform with him, were his fellow servants, and we think the evidence fairly shows that Hege was, as was alleged by the defendant, the fellow servant of the plaintiff, and that there was no evidence tending to show that Hege was placed in a position by defendant where he occupied the position of a superior servant to the plaintiff Hartman, and that therefore there was no question to leave to the jury, and that it was proper for the court, as a matter of law, to state the relations of the parties to each other.

The 15th request was as follows :

“ The only servants of the defendant for whose negligence the defendant is liable in this action, are such as were placed in authority over the plaintiff with power to control and di[437]*437rect him in the performance of his duties; and if the jury finds from the evidence, that the said Fred.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Ohio C.C. 433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartman-v-kloeppinger-ohiocirct-1895.