Mackey v. Lafayette Loan & Trust Co.

121 N.E. 682, 70 Ind. App. 59, 1919 Ind. App. LEXIS 8
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 24, 1919
DocketNo. 9,690
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 121 N.E. 682 (Mackey v. Lafayette Loan & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mackey v. Lafayette Loan & Trust Co., 121 N.E. 682, 70 Ind. App. 59, 1919 Ind. App. LEXIS 8 (Ind. Ct. App. 1919).

Opinion

Nichols, J.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by the appellant while engaged as a servant in the work of constructing a building owned and being built for appellee Lafayette Loan and Trust Company by the general contractor, appellee Alva E. Kemmer.

The appellant filed his complaint in two paragraphs making as defendants thereto Mesker Brothers and the Griffith Iron Works, and appellees Lafayette [61]*61Loan and Trust Company and Alva E. Kemmer. Afterward the appellant filed a written dismissal as to defendants Mesker Brothers and the Griffith Iron Works.

The appellees each filed separate demurrers to each paragraph of the appellant’s complaint, citing as cause that neither paragraph of the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The trial court sustained each of the demurrers to each paragraph of the appellant’s complaint. The appellant .thereupon elected to stand upon his complaint and each paragraph thereof and the ruling of the court on the demurrers thereto.

Judgment was rendered for the appellees on said demurrer, and that the appellees have and recover from appellant their costs. , From this judgment the appellant appeals.

1. The record presents no question as to the first paragraph of the complaint for the reason that such first paragraph is not in the record, but only “a full, true and complete copy of the first paragraph of the complaint * * * as the same

appears from office copy of the counsel in the case.” If such first paragraph was lost, the trial court might have authorized a copy thereof to be filed and used instead of the original; but such substitution must be in the trial court and by proper proceedings in accordance with the method given by the statute. §388 Burns 1914, §379 R. S. 1881; Elliott, App. Proc. §596; Davis v. Talbot (1897), 149 Ind. 80, 47 N. E. 829; Ross v. Stockwell (1897), 17 Ind. App. 77, 46 N. E. 360; State, ex rel. v. McGill (1895), 15 Ind. App. 289, 40 N. E. 1115, 43 N. E. 1016. As appears from the record, there was ho order of substitution in this case.

[62]*62It is averred in the second paragraph of the complaint, in substance, that the appellant was on September 1, 1914, in the employ of the defendant Griffith Iron Works, and engaged in the work of assisting in the erection of a certain building located in the city of Lafayette, Indiana; that appellee Lafayette Loan and Trust Company was the owner of and was causing said building to.be erected on which appellant was at the time at work; that the Mesker Brothers Iron Works was a subcontractor engaged in the work on said building; that appellee Kemmer was a general contractor employed by the owner of said building to erect and complete the same, and that the appellant was on said September 1,1914, in the direct employ of the said defendant Griffith Iron Works; that the said defendant Griffith Iron Works was a subcontractor in the employ of the defendant Mesker Brothers Iron Works, and that the said Mesker Brothers Iron Works was a subcontractor under the general contractor, the appellee Kemmer; that on said date the appellant and one Morris, while employed on the work of said building as aforesaid, were working between the second and third floors of the building on a scaffold which had been built by one Wittworth, a working man and an employe of the said defendant Griffith Iron Works, and by one Miller who was in charge of the work for the defendant Griffith Iron Works; that said appellee Kemmer, on August 18,1913, entered into a written'contract with appellee Lafayette Loan and Trust Company for the erection of said building, by virtue of which appellee Kemmer agreed to provide all the materials and perform all work for the complete erection of said building; that appellees knew at the time the contract [63]*63was entered into that it would he necessary for the prosecution of said work of erecting and constructing said building, and the various parts thereof, to build and erect, or cause to be built and erected, certain scaffolding upon and about which workmen and employes working and employed in the building and in the construction of said building would be compelled to work in the necessary prosecution of said work; that it was the duty of appellees to see that whatsoever material was used in the construction of any scaffolding was carefully selected, inspected and tested so as to exclude defects and dangerous conditions arising from the failure so to do, and to see that all such scaffolding was accurately constructed to bear all weight, and to meet the requirements for which it was being used, with safety to the persons required to use the same, and to inspect and know that any scaffold erected for the purpose of constructing the building should be a proper and safe one. That the appellees, disregarding their duty in that behalf, permitted scaffolding to be erected in a negligent and unsafe manner and of improper and unsafe materials; that the appellant had no part in the erection of such scaffolding and that he was told by the said Miller, the foreman as aforesaid, that said scaffolding was safe and secure. The defendants well knew that said scaffolding was unsafe, insufficient and unsecure, or might have known the same by exercising due care as imposed by law upon said defendants in this regard; that on said September 1, 1914, while engaged to assist in the construction of ,said building, he was ordered and directed by the foreman in charge of said work to go upon said scaffold, and while he was [64]*64standing upon the same, without any negligence on his part, but solely on account of the negligence and carelessness of said defendants in permitting said scaffold to be so negligently constructed as aforesaid, the scaffold broke and gave way, and the appellant fell a great distance to the ground below, by reason of which he was injured, for which he seeks damages.

The court is informed by appellant’s brief that the second paragraph of complaint is expressly based upon the violation of the “Dangerous Occupation Act” of 1911, and that it is drawn upon that theory. (Acts 1911 p. 597, §3862a et seq. Burns 1914.) . Section 4 of this act, being the section involved in this suit, provides as follows: “It is hereby made the duty of all owners, contractors, subcontractors, * * * engaged in the * * * construction * * * of any building, * * * to see and to require that all * * # rope, * * * appliances, # * * contrivances * * * are carefully selected, inspected and tested, so as to detect and exclude defects and dangerous conditions, and that all scaffolding, * * * and all contrivances used, are amply, adequately and properly constructed * * *; and, generally, it shall be the duty of all owners, * * * contractor, subcontractor, and all other persons having charge of, or responsible for any work, * * * involving risk or danger to any employees, * * * to use every device, care and precaution which it is practicable * * * to use for the protection and safety of life, limb and health, * * , * without regard to additional cost, * * * the first concern being safety to life, limb and health.”

[65]*652. [64]*64It will be noted that the provisions of this section [65]*65apply only to owners, contractors and subcontractors engaged

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Bluebook (online)
121 N.E. 682, 70 Ind. App. 59, 1919 Ind. App. LEXIS 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mackey-v-lafayette-loan-trust-co-indctapp-1919.