Karris v. Goldman

254 N.E.2d 605, 118 Ill. App. 2d 85, 1969 Ill. App. LEXIS 1655
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 17, 1969
DocketGen. 52,712
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 254 N.E.2d 605 (Karris v. Goldman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karris v. Goldman, 254 N.E.2d 605, 118 Ill. App. 2d 85, 1969 Ill. App. LEXIS 1655 (Ill. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE STAMOS

delivered the opinion of the court.

Plaintiff brought an action for personal injuries under the provisions of the Structural Work Act (Ill Rev Stats, c 48, §§ 60-69 (1957)). Nick Michale, the general contractor, was originally named as a defendant but on February 14, 1967, his death was suggested and Norman Goldman, Administrator, was substituted as the defendant.

Plaintiff recovered a verdict of $50,000. Defendant appeals contending:

(1) that the court erred in not directing a verdict for defendant and in refusing to grant defendants’ motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict since the evidence failed to establish a cause of action under the Structural Work Act; and

(2) that the court erred in admitting into evidence the testimony of a witness whose identity was not furnished in plaintiff’s answers to interrogatories.

EVIDENCE

James Shwatal, witness on behalf of plaintiff, testified to the facts of the accident. Plaintiff was employed during the summer as a bricklayer’s helper for a subcontractor at the time of the occurrence. Shwatal was also employed by the same subcontractor as plaintiff and they were engaged on June 4, 1959, in supplying brick and mortar to bricklayers who were erecting the walls of the structure. A scaffold was set up along the outer length of the wall for a distance of approximately fifty-five feet. The scaffold consisted of a series of tubular steel supports upon which wooden planks were laid. The planks were approximately a foot wide, twelve feet long and two inches thick. The scaffolding was arranged to provide two working levels or tiers. The lower level was five to six feet above the ground and consisted of five planks. The upper level was two to two and one-half feet higher than the first level and consisted of three planks.

Shwatal worked on the ground level and passed up bricks and mortar to plaintiff who worked on the lower tier and in turn would pass up the bricks and mortar to the upper tier to the bricklayers who were engaged in building the wall. Shwatal would lift a shovelful of mortar from a source at ground level and deposit it on a mortar plate situated on the lower level or tier and plaintiff would then scoop off mortar with his shovel from the mortar plate to a mortar plate on the upper tier or level. In the process of lifting a shovelful of mortar, plaintiff stepped on the mortar plate from which he was removing mortar and the plate tipped causing him to fall to the ground and sustain injuries. The mortar plate was made of flexible steel about three feet square and weighed from twenty to thirty pounds. Plaintiff stepped on that portion of the mortar plate which was overhanging the edge of the outermost plank of the platform by approximately eight inches.

It is noted that the upper level consisted of three planks, with the innermost next to the wall of the building and that the lower level consisted of five planks, with the innermost likewise next to the wall. Thus, the lower level, extended beyond the one above by a distance equal to the width of two planks or about two feet. It was on this extended portion of the lower level where the mortar plate was situated and where plaintiff worked.

Plaintiff’s wife, mother, brother and sister all testified to his general good health before the occurrence and his subsequent manifestation of epilepsy and injury to his shoulder. There also was testimony that plaintiff was a law student at the time of the accident and had later passed the bar examination. Plaintiff was barred from testifying by reason of the death of Nicholas Michale.

Defendant did not adduce any evidence, but rested after plaintiff’s case.

OPINION

Defendant initially contends that plaintiff does not have a cause of action under the Act and argues that there is no evidence that the scaffold was unsafe in its construction or erection, but was eminently sturdy. Defendant also argues that the placing of ordinary tools and equipment upon a stationary platform cannot logically or semantically be construed to constitute an operation of the scaffold, especially where tools and implements, as here, a mortar plate, are placed upon an otherwise sound and sturdy scaffold.

In support of his contention, defendant cites Spiezio v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 91 Ill App2d 392, 235 NE2d 323 (1968) and Thon v. Johnson, 30 Ill App2d 317,174 NE2d 400 (1961).

In Spiezio the court held that a steel column, which was a permanent part of the structure under the circumstances of that case, was by custom and use intended to be used as a scaffold, support or mechanical contrivance within paragraph 60 of the Act.

In Thon the court held that a cement form upon which plaintiff stood could not be considered to be a scaffold.

We fail to see the applicability of these cases to the instant case.

In Schultz v. Ericsson, 264 Ill 156, 106 NE 236 (1914) the evidence revealed that a runway used by laborers to move their wheelbarrows was permitted to become cluttered with piles of bricks so as to narrow the passageway so that as the wheelbarrows were pushed and came abreast of each other, only three inches or so remained between them. There the plaintiff’s wheelbarrow had a protruding wire that became entangled in the wheelbarrow being propelled in the opposite direction and caused the plaintiff to lose his balance and fall.

The court in that case, at pages 167-168 said:

“Under these facts and circumstances as proven it might be fairly and reasonably have been found by the jury that the scaffold or runway on which appellee was required to work was permitted to become unsafe and of insufficient width to afford adequate protection to the men at work thereon, and that such condition was the proximate cause of appellee’s injury.”

At page 165 the court said:

“. . . and the employer cannot escape liability for a willful violation of the statute where he constructs an insufficient, unsafe and dangerous scaffold. . .

The obvious purpose of furnishing scaffolding was to provide platforms upon which plaintiff and his coworkers could engage in their work and to place thereupon equipment that was necessary in the performance of their assigned tasks. The sole test or criterion with which to determine whether the scaffold complies with the Act is not limited to its sturdiness or structural integrity, but it must also be of a size or dimension suitable for the anticipated equipment, tools or devices that are required to be placed thereon for the use of the workmen pursuing their assigned tasks,

It was a proper jury question to resolve whether the makeup of the platform and its dimension were sufficient and safe enough to accommodate plaintiff and the requisite equipment, and to provide sufficient space upon which plaintiff was to perform his task of shoveling. The jury could find, for instance, that the use of the mortar plate, which was 3 ft.

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Bluebook (online)
254 N.E.2d 605, 118 Ill. App. 2d 85, 1969 Ill. App. LEXIS 1655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karris-v-goldman-illappct-1969.