Monroe v. Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Co.

133 S.W. 214, 141 Ky. 549, 1911 Ky. LEXIS 30
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 12, 1911
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 133 S.W. 214 (Monroe v. Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Monroe v. Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Co., 133 S.W. 214, 141 Ky. 549, 1911 Ky. LEXIS 30 (Ky. Ct. App. 1911).

Opinion

[550]*550Opinion op the Court by

Judge Lassing

Reversing.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court dismissing a petition.

In the petition the plaintiff sought to recover damages for injuries sustained by her seventeen year old son while in the employ of the defendant company. She alleged that her son was employed by said company as an oiler of machinery in its power house, and that while so engaged on the 6th of September, 1910, “through the gross carelessness and negligence of the defendant, its agents and servants superior in authority to him, the said Edward Monroe was thrown and knocked with great force and violence to the floor of the power house, and struck by various missiles by the explosion and bursting of the machinery and parts thereof in said power house, thereby severely and permanently injuring his upper and lower limbs, his h'ips and thighs, back, sides, chest, stomach, spine, and head and ears and seriously affecting his hearing and injuring him internally and severely shocking his nervous system, and by reason of all of which the plaintiff has been deprived of her son’s services of the. value of .$1,999,” for which she prayed, etc. A demurrer was sustained to this petition with leave. The plaintiff declined to plead further, the petition was dismissed, and she appeals.

Does this petition state a good cause of action? In the case of Chiles v. Drake, 59 Ky. 146, where the plaintiff sought to recover damages for the wilful and negligent killing of her husband, this court held that, “in actions for personal injuries, resulting from negligence, it has always been regarded as sufficient for the plaintiff to allege, in general terms, that the injury complained of was occasioned by the carelessness and negligence of the defendant. He- has not been required to state the circumstances with which the infliction of the injury was accompanied, in order to show that it had been occasioned by negligence. 'An allegation of the extent of the injury, and of the manner in which it was inflicted, has been always regarded as sufficient.” That case was decided in 1859. The same rule has been announced by this court in many cases decided since that time, and in the recent case of Gaines & Co. v. Johnson, 133 Ky. 507, decided in April, 1909, the principle announced in the case of Chiles v. Drake was restated and approved.

[551]*551In harmony- with these opinions is the text in Bliss on Code Pleading, Sec. 211, in which the author, in discussing the distinction between pleading fraud and negligence, announces the rule that “a general allegation of negligence is allowed; the negligence is the ultimate fact to be proved, and is not a legal conclusion.” He then cites cases from the Supreme Courts of Iowa and Missouri and the Court of Appeals of New York, in each of which t'he charge of negligence was laid in general terms. The cases to which he refers are all against common carriers and the negligence proven was a breach of duty in failing to- observe certain statutory requirements, that is, the cause of action in each was rested upon negligence growing out of the doing of the act resulting in the injury.

To the same effect is Newman, in his Pleading and Practice, Sec. 208-a, in which he broadly states the rule thus:

“In actions for personal injury resulting from negligence, it was and still is sufficient for the plaintiff to allege, in general terms, that the injury complained of was -occasioned by the carelessness and negligence of the defendant, without stating the circumstances with which the infliction of the injury was accompanied,' in order to s.how that it was ocasioned by negligence.”

He cites in support of this text several cases of this court, beginning with that of Chiles v. Drake, 59 Ky. 146, and, in fact, the text itself is almost a copy of the language used in Chiles v. Drake. An examination of the authorities upon which this conclusion is rested discloses the fact that the injury in each particular case resulted from some negligent act in the operation of the business itself. In none of these cases was an effort made to recover for an injury resulting from -other causes than negligence in doing the act resulting in the injury.

But it is insisted for the appellee that such a rule does not obtain in cases where the litigation is between master and servant; that in such cases the plaintiff must set out with particularity the bets of negligence upon which he relies to support or justify bis recovery. We have carefully examined the authorities cited -and -relied upon by appellee to support this contention, but fail ■to find wherein the distinction claimed is drawn. Under a general allegation of negligence, where the extent of [552]*552the injury and the manner of its infliction are stated, a party may prove any negligent act of the defendant, or any of its agents or servants superior in authority to the complainant, arising out of the doing of the act resulting in the injury. But where negligence in other respects than the doing of the act resulting in the injury is relied upon, it must he pleaded. The law imposes upon every one the duty to use reasonable care in the conduct of his business to avoid injuring others. It likewise imposes upon him other duties, such as the duty to provide and maintain for his employees a reasonably safe place in which to work, which, of course, varies with the character and nature of the business; to provide and keep in proper condition tools and appliances reasonably well adapted and suited to the business for which they are to be used; and to instruct his employees in the dangers incident to their employment, and in the use of the tools and appliances with which they are required to work where the business is hazardous or dangerous, and this is especially true where the employees are young or inexperienced. Where injury results from a breach of duty in any of these particulars, liability may attach. Where a recovery is. sought for a breach of duty arising out of the doing of an act resulting in injury, a general allegation of negligence is sufficient. But where a recovery is sought for a breach of a particular duty, it is essential that the facts and circumstances attending the breach should be pleaded, for special or particular acts of negligence are not covered by a general allegation of negligence; just as the facts must be pleaded when special damages are sought to be recovered.

These rules apply alike to all classes of cases where a recovery is sought for an injury resulting from a breach of duty, whether the parties litigant stand in the relation of master and servant toward each other or not. Thus, if one is injured at a railroad crossing, under a general allegation of negligence he may show any act of negligence on the $art of those in charge of the train relating to the management or operation of the train, or the observance of, or failure to observe, the statutory requirements • as to signals, etc. But under such an allegation he could not show that the injury was due to a defective or imperfect condition of the crossing, or that a frog was out of condition or im[553]*553properly constructed, so that his foot was caught and held therein, causing him to be struck by the train and injured. If negligence in the latter particulars were relied upon, it would have to be pleaded specially.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Burdette v. Thompson
420 S.W.2d 548 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1967)
Jump v. Ashland Oil Co.
259 S.W.2d 12 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1953)
Fourseam Coal Corp. v. Barnett
240 S.W.2d 544 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1951)
Chesapeake & O. Ry. Co. v. Coates
113 S.W.2d 28 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1937)
Gatliff Coal Co. v. Hill's Adm'r
92 S.W.2d 56 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Davidson v. Perkins-Bowling Coal Co.
74 S.W.2d 1 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Wigginton's Adm'r v. Louisville Railway Co.
75 S.W.2d 1046 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Stacy v. Williams
69 S.W.2d 697 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
American Savings Life Insurance v. Riplinger
60 S.W.2d 115 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1933)
Strong v. Louisville Nashville Railroad Co.
43 S.W.2d 11 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1931)
Lipscomb v. Cincinnati, N. C. St. R. Co.
39 S.W.2d 991 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1931)
Consolidated Coach Corporation v. Phillips
34 S.W.2d 722 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1931)
Ingraham v. Blevins
33 S.W.2d 357 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1930)
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co. v. Warnock's Administratrix
23 S.W.2d 558 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1930)
S. K. Jones Construction Co. v. Hendley
5 S.W.2d 482 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1928)
Patton v. Stegall
295 S.W. 979 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1927)
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Clark
288 S.W. 1022 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1926)
Raikes v. Payne
249 S.W. 1020 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1923)
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Kirby
191 S.W. 113 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1917)
Ohio Valley Coal & Mining Co. v. Heine
167 S.W. 873 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 S.W. 214, 141 Ky. 549, 1911 Ky. LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/monroe-v-standard-sanitary-manufacturing-co-kyctapp-1911.