McBailey v. Suberbielle

45 So. 442, 120 La. 570, 1908 La. LEXIS 541
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided January 9, 1908·No. No. 16,714·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Statement of the Case.

NICHOLLS, J.

Plaintiff sues to recover from the defendant damages for personal injuries alleged to have been received by him while employed at the Rayon cotton gin, in the town of Rayne, in Acadia, which was at the time leased and operated by the defendant, which injuries he alleged resulted in the loss of his left arm near the shoulder. The injury he averred occurred without any neg-[571] ligenee on his part, but through the gross negligence and fault of the defendant. He alleged that it was well known to the defendant that he was inexperienced in the handling of and the attending to the machinery in the gin leased and operated by the defendant to which he was assigned; that on the day of the injury a certain gin stand became choked; that he had no experience in the cleaning of machinery, nor was he previously instructed in the said work; that he was going back to the engine room to instruct the engineer to stop the machinery, so he could clean out the said gin stand; that while on his way he was stopped by the said manager of said gin, petitioner’s superior, one Sully Rayon, who peremptorily directed and compelled petitioner to return and clean the said gin stand while in motion, informing petitioner that there was no danger in doing so; that petitioner, relying upon the superior knowledge of the said manager, and not knowing of any defect in said machinery, began cleaning the said gin stand as directed by his said superior, when, without his negligence or fault, the lever which adjusted the machinery so as to separate gin or saw from the ribs, through some defect in the machinery, lost its hold, causing petitioner’s left hand to be caught in the gin teeth or saw, drawing the same into its grasp, resulting in cutting, tearing, and lacerating petitioner’s left hand from his body, just below the elbow, causing him immense and agonizing pain, from which he suffered more or less for over 60 days, and up to the present time has been unable to perform any labor whatsoever, having not entirely recovered from pain caused from the said accident.

That the said gin stand, its shafting, idlers, levers, etc., were defective, due to faulty construction and negligence on the part of the said Suberbielle, to the knowledge of the said Suberbielle and his manager, but unknown to petitioner, and that he was induced to undertake the dangerous employment which caused the accident upon the positive assurance of the said Suberbielle, acting through his manager, Sully Rayon, that no danger existed in the undertaking, which resulted in the accident and loss of his arm.

Defendant answered, pleading first the general issue. He averred that in operating the same he had, with due regard to the safety of his employSs, provided gins, machinery, and other implements of work of safe, approved, and commonly used pattern, as well as safe places in which and means with which to perform the task allotted to each employs; that he had also furnished an experienced and cautious manager to control all operations.

He averred that in the course of his business it became necessary to employ a ginner to operate one of the several gins in the gin house; that the plaintiff, learning of this, voluntarily applied to Sully Rayon, the manager of this employment, declaring himself to be an experienced ginner, familiar with all the details of such work, besides being trained as a mechanic.

That Sully Rayon, acting for defendant, and relying implicitly upon the representations of said plaintiff as to his capacity for the work in which he sought employment, did give such employment.

That defendant, even now, had no reason to doubt but that said plaintiff had the experience which he claimed for himself; but that of the plaintiff's own initiative, and despite a well-known and established rule promulgated and brought to the attention of all ginners, not to undertake to clean gins while the machinery was in operation (but to do so after the day’s work was over and the machinery had stopped), did undertake to clean the gin stand at which he had been engaged while the machinery was in operation, and undertook to clean the said gin stand, not in the approved and usual manner, which was [573] from aboye and with the use of a sharp instrument, but from underneath, where he could not see what he was doing, and with his hand, which, under no consideration or circumstance should have been used for the extremely dangerous wort of cleaning a gin when the machinery was in operation.

He stated that, instead of using the safe and approved manner of doing his work, plaintiff voluntarily selected the most perilous; and by this unpardonable negligence and lack of all caution on his part, in undertaking to do this work in the manner indicated, in violation of the rules prevailing in the Rayon gin, as well as in violation of common sense and ordinary caution, the said plaintiff brought upon himself the unfortunate accident with which he now seeks to burden defendant.

And, however pathetic may be the plight in which petitioner finds himself, it was the direct result of his own negligence, and for which he cannot with justice charge the defendant.

In view of the premises, he prayed that the demand of plaintiff be rejected and denied, with costs.

The cause was tried before a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $500. Judgment was rendered accordingly.

Plaintiff has appealed.

The jury which tried this case found in favor of the plaintiff the questions of fact upon which its verdict was made to rest. In view of the extent of the personal injury which he is shown to have received, the amount accorded to him as damages is entirely too small. Defendant draws from that fact the inference that the verdict was a sympathetic one, and contends that plaintiff is entitled to nothing whatever. On the other hand, plaintiff’s attorney attributes the smallness of the damages to the fact that defendant is á resident of the parish of Iberia, while the plaintiff is a stranger there. We have examined the record with care, and, whatever may have been the motive which induced the jury to award to plaintiff the small amount they did, we are of opinion that the finding in his favor of the facts of the case was unquestionably correct.

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McBailey v. Suberbielle, 45 So. 442, 120 La. 570, 1908 La. LEXIS 541 (La. 1908).

45 So. 442 (McBailey v. Suberbielle) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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