John Farrell v. American Cyanamid Co.

Second Circuit

John Farrell v. American Cyanamid Co.

292 F.2d 30, 1961 U.S. App. LEXIS 4001

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit

DecidedJune 30, 1961

Docket384, Docket 26867

StatusPublished

This text of 292 F.2d 30 (John Farrell v. American Cyanamid Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

John Farrell v. American Cyanamid Co., 292 F.2d 30, 1961 U.S. App. LEXIS 4001 (2d Cir. 1961).

Pincite

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, an employee of a maintenance and repair company, was engaged in caulking a metal duct on the outside wall of defendant’s building when the boatswain’s chair which held him aloft fell five stories and he received the injuries for which he has brought suit. He was unable to show why the accident occurred or to produce any evidence that defendant was negligent. Without relying specifically upon the doctrine of res ipsa, loquitur, he asserts a more specialized principle that the party providing scaffolding may be presumed negligent if the scaffold falls, even absent proof of a defect. Stewart v. Ferguson, 164 N.Y. 553, 554, 58 N.E. 662. But here the defendant provided none of the equipment except the chair, and hence the Stewart precedent is inapplicable. And there was not the exclusive control over the area where the negligence must have occurred which is necessary for invocation of res ipsa loquitur. Hence the trial judge’s direction of a verdict for the defendant was correct.

Judgment affirmed.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, an employee of a maintenance and repair company, was engaged in caulking a metal duct on the outside wall of defendant’s building when the boatswain’s chair which held him aloft fell five stories and he received the injuries for which he has brought suit. He was unable to show why the accident occurred or to produce any evidence that defendant was negligent. Without relying specifically upon the doctrine of res ipsa, loquitur, he asserts a more specialized principle that the party providing scaffolding may be presumed negligent if the scaffold falls, even absent proof of a defect. Stewart v. Ferguson, 164 N.Y. 553, 554, 58 N.E. 662. But here the defendant provided none of the equipment except the chair, and hence the Stewart precedent is inapplicable. And there was not the exclusive control over the area where the negligence must have occurred which is necessary for invocation of res ipsa loquitur. Hence the trial judge’s direction of a verdict for the defendant was correct.

Judgment affirmed.

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)

292 F.2d 30, 1961 U.S. App. LEXIS 4001, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-farrell-v-american-cyanamid-co-ca2-1961.

Opinion

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack