Layne v. Louisiana Power & Light Co.

161 So. 29, 1935 La. App. LEXIS 278
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 2, 1935
DocketNo. 4970.
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 161 So. 29 (Layne v. Louisiana Power & Light Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Layne v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., 161 So. 29, 1935 La. App. LEXIS 278 (La. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

*30 DREW, Judge.

This suit arose out of an accident occurring at Mangham, La., on tihe afternoon of May 9, 1933. The plaintiff, while engaged, in putting a corrugated iron roof on the gin house owned by the Mangham Gin Company, came in contact with a high power transmission line owned and operated by the Louisiana Power & Light Company, ' receiving ’ severe burns and injuries. He sued the said Power & Light Company and the insurer, Continental Casualty Company, praying for judgment in solido in the sum of $30,000.

He alleged the following acts of negligence on the part of defendant Power & Light Company, after asserting it was engaged in manufacturing, distributing, and selling electrical energy throughout the state of Louisiana, and owned and operated the transmission line with which plaintiff came in contact:

(a) That it strung an uninsulated, high voltage wire on a pole line so that said wire was only 14 inches from the edge of the roof covering said gin house; (b) that it allowed entirely too much sag in this wire between the poles, which were 169 feet apart, and that the sag was sufficient to allow a light wind to blow the wire to within one quarter of an inch of the roof of said ■ building; (c) that there were no warning signs of any kind or character near said wire or in the vicinity of the gin house; and (d) that the said wire was strung only 26 feet above the ground when it should have been strung 35 to 40 feet above the ground.

Plaintiff also alleged that he had observed said uninsulated wire and handled himself, his tools, and material in a most careful and prudent manner at all times while on said roof, being specially cautious that he did not come in contact with said wire; and that, except for the unforeseen intervention of the wind in suddenly and without warning blowing said wire toward and near to the roof of said gin house, the wire could not and would not have come in contact with the corrugated roofing he had in his hand.

He itemized his damages and prayed for judgment accordingly.

Defendants filed exceptions of no cause or right of .action, which were overruled below and are again urged here. The exception is 'based upon the allegation above recited wherein plaintiff alleged he knew the wire was.uninsulated and dangerous. Defendants urge that with this knowledge the plaintiff alleged, 'he voluntarily exposed himself to a danger lie realized and could have” avoided through proper care and prudence. We find no merit to the exception. . Plaintiff has alleged acts of negligence on the part of defendant Power & Light Company and has not alleged any negligence on his part, to the contrary, the petition disavows any negligence on the part of plaintiff. The exception was properly overruled.

Both defendants answered denying any negligence on the part of Louisiana Power & Light Company and pleading contributory negligence on the part of plaintiff.

The Maryland Casualty Company and Mangham Gin Company intervened in the suit as parties plaintiff, alleging the plaintiff had secured judgment against them for compensation for a period of 400 weeks, at the rate ,of 65 per cent, of his weekly wage, and prayed that they be subrogated to the rights of plaintiff against defendants for an amount equal to the amount of the judgment secured by plaintiff against them. It is admitted by both plaintiff and defendants that the Maryland Casualty Company is entitled to what they pray for in case judgment is rendered against defendants.

After trial had below, there was judgment for defendants rejecting the demands of plaintiff, from which judgment he has perfected this appeal.

Although the lower court gave no written reasons, it is stated in brief by defendants that it found the Louisiana Power & Light Company to be negligent in stringing its high -voltage uninsulated wire in such close proximity to the gin house, but held that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in coming in contact with it.

There can be no doubt about the. negligence of the Louisiana Power & Light Company, which will hereafter be spoken of as defendant.

The plaintiff, a carpenter sixty-eight years of age and apparently healthy, was injured by coming in contact with the high power electric wire owned and used by defendant. At the time of the accident he was on the roof of the gin house owned by the Mangham Gin Company. He had been engaged in the carpenter trade for nearly forty years and at the time of the accident was so engaged, having been employed by said gin company to re-roof its gin house with corrugated tin. The gin house was a frame building. The comb or ridge of the- roof of this building runs nearly east and west and is 28 feet, 3 inches from the ground. Erom the comb or ridge the roof slopes down with a pitch of about *31 8 inches to the foot. On the north side of the gin house there is a hip roof, or shed, constructed about 13 feet below the eaves of the main roof. The shed runs the entire length of the building. The west end of the building is about 6 feet from a jpublic highway, running north and south. The gin house was built with metal roofing, about 1915, and many years before the power line of defendant was constructed. About 30 feet south of the gin house there is a pole, placed there by said defendant, which is about 29 feet above the ground, carrying a cross-arm near the top on which the wires were strung. About 160 feet north of this pole is another pole, not quite so high, to which the same wire is connected. The wire is either a No. 4 or 6 round copper wire, entirely uninsulated throughout the entire length of this span. It passes parallel to the west face of the gin house and is approximately 2 feet below the comb or ridge of the roof and is by actual measurement 16 inches west of the west edge of the north side of said metal roof. It is a little farther west of the south side of said roof, due to the fact that the south pole sits farther to the west than does the north pole. Oh the south pole there is an elevated platform on which there are three eondensors, and some other electrical equipment.

On the day of the accident, plaintiff was working on the north side of the roof. The corrugated iron or tin with which he was covering the gin house was 7 feet long and' 2½ to 3 feet wide, ordinary 26-gauge corrugated roofing. He held himself on the roof by means of a ladder which lay flat on the roof and was held in place by hooks on the upper end, which fit over the comb or ridge of the roof. He started to work on the east end of the roof and, as he would put in place and nail one length of tin, he would move his ladder over in order to put on the next strip. He had continued in this manner until he had laid the last full size piece of roofing, which did not entirely cover the surface of the roof. ’ A full size piece of the roofing being more than was necessary, he descended to the ground and split a piece of the roofing lengthwise. The strip he cut to use was filed in evidence, and is about 7 feet'long by 10½ inches wide. He again ascended to the roof and was in more or less of a lying down position on the ladder, with his left hip about the fifth rung from the bottom of the ladder, which was several feet below the ridge or comb of the roof. One negro helper was sitting upright on the ladder below him and another was on the shed roof.

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Bluebook (online)
161 So. 29, 1935 La. App. LEXIS 278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/layne-v-louisiana-power-light-co-lactapp-1935.