Morgan Warehouse & Commercial Co. v. Gilbert Mfg. Co.

60 S.W.2d 1053, 1933 Tex. App. LEXIS 786
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 6, 1933
DocketNo. 11217
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 60 S.W.2d 1053 (Morgan Warehouse & Commercial Co. v. Gilbert Mfg. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morgan Warehouse & Commercial Co. v. Gilbert Mfg. Co., 60 S.W.2d 1053, 1933 Tex. App. LEXIS 786 (Tex. Ct. App. 1933).

Opinion

BOND, Justice.

This suit was filed by appellant, Morgan Warehouse & Commercial Company, against appellees Gilbert Manufacturing Company and Hughes-O’Rourke Construction Company for damages on account of payment of a judgment rendered against it in favor of Phillip Servello, for injuries resulting from the breach of a contract of guaranty or indemnity, and for actionable negligence of - appellees by virtue of the breach. This appeal is the result of the trial court’s action in sustaining appellees’ special exceptions to appellant’s first amended petition; appellant declining to amend, the suit was dismissed.

In its amended petition, appellant made substantially the following allegations, which are germane to its contention as to the action of the lower court, in sustaining, the exceptions and in dismissing the suit: That it entered into a contract with appellee Hughes-O’Rourke Construction Company to repair, remodel, and erect a certain building on land belonging to it, providing for necessary materials and guaranteeing “all doors against defective material and workmanship, including installation, for a period .of five years” ; that, after said contract was executed, there was delivered to and installed in appellant’s said building thirty Meeker typo unlabeled , elevator doors; that, when the aforesaid doors were purchased, appellant, by and through its president, S. P. Morgan, represented to appellees and their respective agents, Owen Hughes, president of Hughes-O’Rourke Construction Company, and Frank M. Jackson, president of the Gilbert Manufacturing Company, Inc., that it desired the elevators in said building equipped with doors which would automatically close when the elevator or cage was moved, and that appel-lees, through their respective agents, Hughes and Jackson, represented to appellant, shortly before said contract was entered into-— June 15, 1925 — that according to the written guaranty the Meeker type doors would automatically close upon the cage being moved either up or down from the floor on which the doors were installed; that the meaning of said guaranty was and is that the material used in said doors would not be defective, the workmanship used in making the doors and putting them together and in installing them would be first class, the doors would be installed in such a manner that they would operate as they were designed and intended to operate; and that the manufacturing company and the construction company guaranteed that said doors would be so installed and would work automatically for a period of five years.

[1054]*1054Appellant further alleges that said doors were not as represented; that the material in said doors was defective, the doors were not properly balanced, and were too heavy for the purpose for which appellant desired to use them; that the workmanship in said doors was defective; that the doors were not properly installed, they would not operate automatically when the cage was moved, as contracted; that said doors were not properly fitted into the grooves, but were loose and wobbled from side to side; that “soon after the installation of said doors, in April of 1926, and prior and subsequent to said date, It informed appellee Manufacturing Company that said doors were not properly installed,” and were not working properly, and requested it to remedy said defects; that from time to time, between April, 1926, and December, 1926, the manufacturing company attempted to remedy said defects, and to make the doors operate properly, and thereby induced appellant to keep said doors. •

Appellant alleges further that, at and prior to the time of thé installation of said doors, appellees, through their said presidents, knew the purpose for which said doors would be ■used and the character of business in which appellant was engaged, i. e., a general warehouse and cold storage business; that appellant would rent space in its building to other persons for the purpose of storing goods and merchandise; that such persons would use •said elevators, and knew the danger to such persons if the elevator doors failed to operate properly, i. e., if they failed to close when the cage left the landing, and knew that such situation would constitute a hazard to persons In and about and using said elevators; that some time prior to July 24, 1926, it rented a portion-of its space in its building to one Earl Marshall, who was engaged in the wholesale meat business; that on said date an em-, ployee of Earl Marshall, Phillip Servello, in the course of his employer’s business, proceeded to the space leased by appellant to Earl Marshall and loaded some meat on a truck, which he intended to be carried down said elevator at the time the elevator took him down; that Servello and his employer knew that there was supposed to be a safety device on said elevator doors, which would cause the same to close automatically when the cage left the landing, and would hold the •doors open while the cage remained at the landing; that on said occasion, after the elevator cage was removed from the landing, the doors did not automatically close, but, on account of the defective material, workmanship, and installation of said doors, the same remained open after the cage had left the landing, Servello fell through said opening to the pit at the bottom of the building, and received severe personal injuries; that, on account of the injuries so received, Servello instituted suit against appellant for damages in the sum of $42,500; that judgment was entered against appellant for the sum of $6,-500 and costs, and, on February 4, 1928, it was compelled to pay Servello the sum of $6,577.40, in full satisfaction of said judgment ; that the injuries sustained by Servello resulted directly from the breach of said contract by appellee manufacturing company, inasmuch as said appellee had guaranteed all of said doors against defective material and workmanship, including installation, for a period of five years, and from the negligence of the construction company, in improperly installing said defective doors; that, if the doors had been properly installed, the same would have closed automatically, when the cage was moved from the landing, on the occasion of said injury, and, because of such defective material, workmanship, and installation of said doors, and because of appellees’ negligence in the particulars above set out, appellant has suffered damages in the sum of $6,577.40.

In this connection, appellant further alleged that the defendants knew that, if the doors did not operate automatically and close when the elevator cage left the landing, such an injury would likely occur; that, after the injury to Servello, and after claim was made upon it on account of the damages sustained by him, appellant notified appellees that such injuries had occurred; that claim for damages was being made against it; and that appellant would hold appellees liable for any sum that' Servello might recover against it, thereby giving said appellees an opportunity to defend said cause, which they wholly failed and refused to do.

Appellees’ special exceptions assail the above allegations, seeking recovery for the amount of the judgment alleged to have been paid by appellant for damages sustained by Servello, and recovered by him in suit brought against appellant, and all the allegations quoted incident to said judgment and payment, which, in effect, are tantamount to a general demurrer of appellant’s petition. We agree to the conclusion reached by the trial court in sustaining the exceptions and in dismissing the case.

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Bluebook (online)
60 S.W.2d 1053, 1933 Tex. App. LEXIS 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morgan-warehouse-commercial-co-v-gilbert-mfg-co-texapp-1933.