Kingsberry Homes Corporation v. Ralston

235 So. 2d 371, 285 Ala. 600, 1970 Ala. LEXIS 1080
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 26, 1970
Docket6 Div. 658
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 235 So. 2d 371 (Kingsberry Homes Corporation v. Ralston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kingsberry Homes Corporation v. Ralston, 235 So. 2d 371, 285 Ala. 600, 1970 Ala. LEXIS 1080 (Ala. 1970).

Opinions

BLOODWORTH, Justice.

This is an appeal by the defendant Kings-berry Homes from a judgment for plaintiff, and judgment overruling motion for new trial, in an action for personal injuries which resulted in a jury verdict for $27,500.

Plaintiff, a freight train conductor, recovered a consent judgment for $40,000 against his employer, the AGS Railroad, under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act for his injuries arising out of this accident. Plaintiff then brought this suit against Kingsberry Homes for negligently maintaining its loading dock in a condition not reasonably safe for the crews of railway freight trains because of such a close clearance between the loading dock and freight [603]*603cars on a spur track.- After a-jury trial, he recovered judgment against Kingsberry Homes for $27,500. -The consent judgment against AGS is subject to deduction for any recovery from Kingsberry Homes.

This accident occurred when plaintiff came on the premises on the AGS train to move three empty boxcars sitting on the spur track adjacent to the platform. While plaintiff was using the stirrup or step of a boxcar to climb upon the Kingsberry platform to see whether the cars were clear of workmen before a coupling was made, his fellow crewman backed the train into the far end of that boxcar and mashed him between the side of the car and the loading platform, fracturing his acetabulum. Plaintiff related that he had not given any signal to the brakeman, but that the brakeman had taken it upon himself to signal the train back. Pie said that the train should not have moved without getting a signal from him to couple up. He did not expect the cars to move at all.

Kingsberry Homes operated a manufacturing plant in Fort Payne, Alabama, receiving freight at its premises on a spur track off the AGS Railroad main line. Shipments were loaded and unloaded from AGS Railroad cars to Kingsberry Homes upon its loading platform constructed adjacent to the spur track. The spur track at this point was owned by Kingsberry Plomes. The loading platform was constructed after the spur track was built. It is located from 6 feet 5 inches to 6 feet 8j4 inches from the center of the track. The area between the track and the platform was dirt; it was not level but sloped. There was debris, wood and steel scattered along the area. From the side of a boxcar sitting on the spur to the edge of the platform was approximately 22 inches. Measurements of the distance from a step on a boxcar to the platform showed it to be about I314 inches. The floor of a boxcar was about even with the level of the platform. A steel plate is used by Kingsberry to connect the platform with a railroad car to load or unload its materials with a forklift.

Defendant’s predecessor company1 entered into a contract with the railroad that it would “ * * * at all times keep free and clear of any obstruction whatever * * the space twenty (20) feet in width measured ten (10) feet each way from thcceiiter of said track, all structures, facilities or property located or placed * * * parallel with the same to be safely and substantially maintained * * * to preserve said clearances; * *

On this appeal, appellant Kingsberry Homes argues for reversible error the actions of the trial court, viz: Overruling its motion for a new trial as to the insufficiency of the evidence; refusing to give its general affirmative charge with hypothesis ; refusing to give its two charges dealing with “open and obvious” dangerous conditions, and its charge relating to a “hazard or danger” of which plaintiff’s employer was fully aware; and, sustaining plaintiff’s objection to a question to defendant’s witness as to whether a loading platform is an “obstruction.”

First, Kingsberry complains of the overruling of its motion for new trial. The only ground argued is that the verdict is contrary to the great weight of the evidence, thus it is the only one we consider. State v. McDaniel, 285 Ala. 310, 231 So.2d 878; Maring-Crawford Motor Co. v. Smith, 285 Ala. 477, 233 So.2d 484; Boudrow v. H & R Construction Company, 284 Ala. 60, 222 So.2d 154 (1969).

In Zoning Board of Adjustment, etc. v. Wright, 283 Ala. 654, 658, 220 So.2d 261, we restated our oft-expressed rule:

“Verdicts are presumed to be correct; and when the trial judge refuses, as here, to grant a new trial, the presumption [604]*604in favor of the correctness of the verdict is strengthened. * * * ”

We have also repeatedly held that we “will not reverse an order refusing a new trial on the ground that the evidence is not sufficient to support the verdict, or that the verdict is contrary to the evidence, ‘unless, after allowing all reasonable presumptions of its correctness, the preponderance of the evidence against the verdict is so decided as to clearly convince the court that it is wrong and unjust.’ ” Reed v. Thompson, 225 Ala. 381, 382, 143 So. 559, 560; State v. Smith, 283 Ala. 454, 457, 218 So.2d 266 (1969). We are not so convinced. As we hereinafter indicate, we believe the trial court properly submitted the case to the jury under its instructions, and that the case was one for the jury’s determination. The jury having spoken, we will not disturb its verdict. We find no reversible error here.

Next, Kingsberry urges error to reverse in the trial court’s refusal to give the general affirmative charge with hypothesis. The argument here seems to be that defendant is not liable to the plaintiff on account of injury resulting from the “open and obvious” danger due to the closeness of the loading platform to the track, because plaintiff knew and was aware of it; and, that Kingsberry was under no duty to alter or reconstruct these premises to obviate the known danger. Kingsberry queries us:

“What could defendant do to avoid this accident and liability in this case? The only answer can be — Tear down the platform or dismantle the track. Ralston’s own testimony2 demonstrated without dispute * * * that Ralston was fully aware of the danger and was thus possessed of all the knowledge that a thorough and timely warning of the danger could have imparted. Kingsberry could only avoid liability by altering or reconstructing its premises to obviate the known and obvious danger, a duty which common sense and the Alabama cases clearly indicate is not owed. * * [Footnote ours.]

Kingsberry cites McRee v. Woodward Iron Company, 279 Ala. 88, 182 So.2d 209 (1966), and Claybrooke v. Bently, 260 Ala. 678, 72 So.2d 412 (1954), as being cases with similar facts and authority for its contentions. It adds, “We would suggest * * * that affirmance of this case requires that this court overrule this line of long standing Alabama cases”, viz: McRee v. Woodward Iron Company, supra; Crawford Johnson & Co. v. Duffner, 279 Ala. 678, 189 So.2d 474 (1966); Claybrooke v. Bently, supra; Lamson & Sessions Bolt Co. v. McCarty, 234 Ala. 60, 173 So. 388 (1937); United States Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co. v. Fuller, 212 Ala. 177, 102 So. 25 (1924); Connors-Weyman Steel Co. v. Kilgore, 189 Ala. 643, 66 So. 609 (1914).

In answer to these contentions, appellee Ralston replies that Kingsberry had a duty towards him as an invitee — employee of the railroad — to provide a reasonably safe place to work under the common law, by statute (Title 26, § 12, Code of Alabama 1940), and by the contract.

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Bluebook (online)
235 So. 2d 371, 285 Ala. 600, 1970 Ala. LEXIS 1080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kingsberry-homes-corporation-v-ralston-ala-1970.