I. F. Force Handle Co. v. Hisey

96 N.E. 643, 52 Ind. App. 235, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 245
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 23, 1911
DocketNo. 7,152
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 96 N.E. 643 (I. F. Force Handle Co. v. Hisey) 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
I. F. Force Handle Co. v. Hisey, 96 N.E. 643, 52 Ind. App. 235, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 245 (Ind. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinions

Ibach, J.

This is a suit commenced in the Floyd Circuit Court by appellee against appellant, a corporation operating a factory at New Albany, Indiana, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained while in its employ, and caused by its negligence. On request of appellee, the venue was changed to Clark county.

The amended complaint is in a single paragraph, and, omitting the formal parts, states “that on the 23d day of June, 1905, the plaintiff was in the employ of said defendant as a common laborer, in and about its factory; that on said day, while this plaintiff was so employed, and while he [238]*238was engaged in his duties, as such common laborer, and while he was in the yards of said defendant, this plaintiff was injured by the negligence of the defendant as hereinafter set out; that on said date, and prior to the time of this plaintiff’s injury, said defendant rigged up a rope, which was fastened at one end to a freight car standing on a switch controlled by the defendant, and the other end was attached to the drum of the engine; that said rope about the middle of its length ran through a pulley or tackle block fastened by a chain to a post, in such a way as to make said rope in the shape of a right angle, and in such way as to put the strain of said engine and of the load attached to the other end of the rope, when said engine was started, on the chain; that said rope was so rigged for the purpose of moving said car on said switch; that said chain, with which said pulley was fastened to said rope, was old, rusted, defective and insufficient to stand said strain, all of which was then and there well known to the said defendant in ample time to either repair said chain, or furnish another and sufficient one in its place, or to warn this plaintiff of the danger, but notwithstanding the same was well known to the defendant, said defendant then and there negligently used the said chain for said purpose; that the defective and insufficient condition of said chain was unknown to this plaintiff; that while said plaintiff was so standing in the yards of said defendant’s factory, said defendant started said engine, thereby tightening the said rope, and thereupon said chain, by reason of and as a result of said defective condition suddenly and without any warning, broke and said chain, rope and block, on account of being released, were thrown with great force and violence against and around the body of the plaintiff, causing the plaintiff thereby to be thrown with great force and violence to the ground.” It is further averred that on account of his said injuries, caused wholly by defendant’s negligence, plaintiff is permanently crippled.

A demurrer to the complaint for want of facts was over[239]*239ruled, to which, ruling appellant excepted. The cause was put at issue by an answer in denial, and a further answer in which was pleaded the statute of limitations. Trial by jury resulted in a general verdict for appellee in the sum of $5,000. The jury also returned special findings of facts in the form of answers to interrogatories submitted to it. Appellant moved for judgment on the answers to interrogatories, which motion was overruled, likewise its motion for a new trial, and judgment was rendered for appellee on the general verdict.

Errors relied on for reversal are that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, overruling the demurrer to the amended complaint, overruling the motion for judgment on the answers to interrogatories and special findings of facts notwithstanding the general vex-dict, and overruling the motioix for a new trial.

1. Appellant’s counsel claim that the amended complaint does not state a cause of action, as no facts are alleged showing that appellee at the time he was injured was acting in the line of his duty as an employe of appellant, or that appellant owed him any duty. They argue that the allegation of the complaint on this point, in the following words, is only the conclusion of the pleader: ‘ ‘ That on said day, while this plaintiff was so employed, and while he was engaged in his duties as such common laborer, and while he was in the yards of said defendant, this plaintiff was injured by the negligence of the defendant as hereinafter set out. ’ ’ They insist that it is nowhere shown what appellee was doing, all that is alleged as to his employment being that he “was in the employ of said defendant as a common laborer in and about said factory,” and that in spite of the later allegation that the accident occurred “while plaintiff was so standing in the yards of said defendant’s factory,” still the complaint is absolutely silent as to facts showing why he was there. They urge that it is not sufficient to allege in general terms that it was the .duty [240]*240of a plaintiff or a defendant to do or not to do a certain thing, but that the facts must be alleged from which a duty may be inferred, for, charging that it was the duty of plaintiff or defendant to do a certain thing is the averment of a mere conclusion of law.

But it seems to us that, on a reasonable construction, the complaint in the present case is sufficient. From the allegations objected to by appellant as being general, it appears that appellee was employed as a common laborer in and about appellant’s factory, and that at the time he was injured he was engaged in his duties as such in the yards of the factory. Here the word “duties” refers to any work which his employment required him to perform as a common laborer. A later allegation is that the injury occurred while he was “so” standing in the yards, the word “so” seemingly being used by the pleader to refer back to the statement that he was engaged in his duties. It is true that it nowhere appears from a specific allegation what was the particular task embraced under the head of common labor, which appellee was performing.

2. A complaint by a sei’vant seeking to hold his master liable for an injury received by him on account of the failure on the part of the master to furnish him a safe place in which to work must aver facts which show that at the time he was injured the relation of master and servant existed between them. When such facts appear, the law at once imposes the general duty on the master to furnish to the servant a reasonably safe place in which to perform his work. In addition to this, however, it must be made to appear, from the facts averred, that at the time of his injury he was in a place where the master owed such duty to him. This may be made to appear by an allegation that at the time he received the injury complained of he was actually engaged in the duties to which he had been assigned by his master. So when the allegations of the complaint show that the servant when he received the injury [241]*241complained of was performing the work which he was employed to do, this will be held to be a sufficient averment that he was rightfully at the place where he was injured. Where it appears from a complaint that the employment of the servant required him to perform a particular work, and that the performance of such work required him to be in a particular place, if it further appears from such complaint that when he received the injury complained of he was not in that particular place, but in a different one, where the performance of the particular work could not have called him, then such a complaint would not be good unless it contained additional facts showing that the master owed him a duty while at the place where the injury actually occurred.

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99 N.E. 772 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1912)
F. Bimel Co. v. Harter
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I. F. Force Handle Co. v. Hisey
96 N.E. 643 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1911)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
96 N.E. 643, 52 Ind. App. 235, 1911 Ind. App. LEXIS 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/i-f-force-handle-co-v-hisey-indctapp-1911.