Louisville Nashville Railroad Co. v. D. W. Gothard

142 So. 2d 712, 273 Ala. 424, 1962 Ala. LEXIS 397
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJune 14, 1962
Docket6 Div. 495
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 142 So. 2d 712 (Louisville Nashville Railroad Co. v. D. W. Gothard) 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
Louisville Nashville Railroad Co. v. D. W. Gothard, 142 So. 2d 712, 273 Ala. 424, 1962 Ala. LEXIS 397 (Ala. 1962).

Opinion

LIVINGSTON, Chief Justice.

D. W. Gothard, the appellee, sued the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, the appellant, in the Circuit Court of Jefferson /County, Alabama, claiming damages for personal injuries in the loss of an 'eye;. The, suit was brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, Title 45, U.S.C.A.'§ 51.

As amended, the complaint contained two counts, one and three.

Count One alleged, in substance, that plaintiff was employed by defendant as a machine operator or laborer, and that on November 26, 1957, he was employed in work ■ in. furtherance of interstate commerce, or directly, closely and substantially affecting such commerce. He alleged that on said occasion, he was struck in the left eye by a piece of steel, thereby sustaining various damages and injuries, including- the loss of vision and surgical removal of his eye, and permanent impairment of his power to work and earn money. He further alleged that the damages catalogued were the proximate result, in whole or in part, of the negligence of the defendant in negligently failing to furnish him with goggles for the protection: of his eyes while performing work assigned to him by his superior.

Count Three, as amended, was identical with Count One, except that it charged that his injuries were the proximate result) in' whole or in part, of the negligence of the defendant in that an officer, agent or '-employee of defendant, acting within the line and -scope.of his employment, negligently caused, allowed or permitted plaintiff to cut bond wires from rails with a hammer and cleaver without the use of goggles to protect his eyes.

Defendant pled in short by consent the general issue, with leave, etc.

The trial of the cause resulted in a jury’s verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $50,500, and on which the trial court entered judgment.

Defendant’s motion for a new trial was overruled and it appealed.

Only two matters, presented in several ways, are argued in brief for a reversal; one, an incident of the trial pertaining to an examination of a witness, and defendant’s motion for a mistrial relative thereto, which will be discussed later; and, two, the question of the excessiveness of the verdict. Under our rules, all other assignments of error are deemed waived.

On the first question argued in brief, we will set forth only so much of the evidence as will clearly and fairly present the question for review. That evidence is virtually without dispute, and is, in substance, as follows:

Plaintiff, appellee, and his co-worker, one Bankston, were employed by the defendant, appellant, as machine operators. On November 23, 1957, plaintiff and Bankston were assigned, as laborers, to cut bond wires (a bond wire is a wire connecting, electrically, two rails so as to carry an electric impulse from one rail to another) from around some rails needed at another point. At the time they were assigned to this job, they were asked if they had goggles and they replied that they had none. Defendant’s track supervisor told Foreman Wallace to get goggles for the plaintiff, which were at Parkwood, one-half mile away. The plaintiff and Bankston commenced to cut the bond wires without goggles and they were cautioned to be careful of flying chips of metal, but were not told not to work without goggles. [427]*427Foreman Wallace returned without any goggles and plaintiff and Bankston testified that when Wallace returned without the goggles, they assumed there were none. Plaintiff and Bankston cut the bond wires (using hammer and cleaver) from morning until shortly after noon, at which time the plaintiff was struck in the eye by a piece of metal chipped off when the hammer struck the cleaver. During the time up to the injury, Foreman Wallace, the defendant’s agent, was nearby and saw plaintiff working without goggles, but never told the plaintiff to stop working until he procured some goggles. The plaintiff knew he should wear goggles for this type of work and was given safety rules when he was hired.

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company had a rule book which required goggles to be worn when “holding cleaver for cutting rails, bolts, nuts or other metal.” It also contained “Special Rules for Foremen and Others in Supervisory Capacities,” which provided, in part, as follows:

“A. The prevention of accidents is the most important duty of a foreman. Only to the extent that he succeeds in this respect will he be regarded as a successful foreman, no matter how favorable his record otherwise.
“B. A thorough knowledge of all of the rules in this book, a full compliance therewith, and an exercise of a duty of supervision that will insure the men under them being familiar with and complying with all the mies, is a definite part of the duties of each foreman or other supervisory officer, and for this part of his duty he will, in case of accident, be held responsible.
“D. Before men are put to work it must be seen that conditions are favorable for the safe performance of the job, and all possible precautions mtist be taken to insure the continuance of safe conditions.” (Emphasis supplied.)

Track Supervisor Butler testified that in his absence, Foreman Wallace had the responsibility for following the company’s rules, to show the men how to do the work at some time or another before the men are allowed to go on the job, that prevention of accidents is the most important duty of the foreman, that if Foreman Wallace saw Gothard and Bankston cutting bond wire with a hammer and cleaver without goggles, it was his duty to stop them, and that Bankston and Gothard were the youngest men he had in his group.

The injection of testimony, or a question concerning it, showing the discharge of Foreman Wallace, and also plaintiff’s co-worker Bankston, after the investigation of the accident to plaintiff, is the basis of defendant’s motion for a mistrial, and is also grounds of defendant’s motion for a new trial. The record discloses the following:

“REDIRECT EXAMINATION
“Q (BY MR. RIVES) Mr. Bankston, did you have to report for an investigation of this incident?
“A Yes, sir, I did. '
“Q And following that investigation didn’t they discharge Foreman Wallace and discharge you?
“MR. ROBINSON: Just a minute—
“A Yes, sir.
“MR. ROBINSON: Just a minute, I will have to ask for a mistrial. He certainly knows he can’t try a case like that.
“MR. PETERSON: I can show him some law to the contrary, if the Court please.
“MR. ROBINSON: I disagree with you. It is an effort to prejudice the jury and I will have to ask for a mistrial.
[428]*428“THE COURT: Gentlemen, I am going to sustain the objection to the question, and I am going to instruct you gentlemen that questions asked by counsel are not evidence in the case, nor remarks made by counsel during the course of the trial are not evidence in the case.

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Bluebook (online)
142 So. 2d 712, 273 Ala. 424, 1962 Ala. LEXIS 397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisville-nashville-railroad-co-v-d-w-gothard-ala-1962.