Pappas v. Evans

48 N.W.2d 298, 242 Iowa 804, 1951 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 380
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJune 5, 1951
Docket47798
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 48 N.W.2d 298 (Pappas v. Evans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pappas v. Evans, 48 N.W.2d 298, 242 Iowa 804, 1951 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 380 (iowa 1951).

Opinions

Smith, J.

Plaintiff, a railroad section foreman, was operating a railroad motorcar in a southerly direction over the Chicago Great Western Railroad track in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, March 24, 1947. He was accompanied by two other section men, Martin and Staley, stationed respectively at the left and right front corners of the vehicle. Plaintiff sat on the left side behind Martin. The car had a low windshield over which the men could see.

As the motorcar approached the crossing defendant’s automobile came from the west over a gravel highway and struck it so near to its right front corner as to kill Staley, the section man there stationed. Plaintiff was injured and brings this action for resulting damages. There was a verdict for plaintiff. The trial court granted defendant a new trial and plaintiff appeals.

I. The trial court, after instructing the jury as to what constitutes proximate cause, added (in the second paragraph) a comprehensive statement of the law concerning concurrent negligence and then said:

“In this case if you find that the negligence of the defendant * * *, if any, concurred with the negligence of Oscar Staley or of Tony Martin [plaintiff’s coemployees] in causing the injury, the negligence of either * * * would be the proximate cause of the injury even though the negligence of neither * * * was the sole cause thereof, which is to say * * * the negligence, if any, of Oscar Staley or of Tony Martin does not excuse the negligence, if any, of the defendant * * *.
“You are further instructed, however, that the plaintiff could not relieve himself of his duty to use care * * * by delegating it to someone else and if you in fact find that the plaintiff failed to use the care which * * * he was required to use, then he can[807]*807not excuse himself for such failure because of some negligence on the part of Staley or Martin.”

Defendant, by objection to instructions and in motion for new trial, urged that under the record there was no question of concurrent negligence involved but that the negligence, if any, of Staley or Martin would be imputed to plaintiff “who was the foreman under whose direction they worked, who had delegated this duty to them and he couldn’t escape responsibility if their negligence in any way contributed, it would be his negligence.”

The trial court in granting new trial apparently adopted defendant’s theory, saying that while the instruction was “a correct statement of abstract law” it was not “a correct statement of the law applicable' to this case. [It] makes the defendant * * * liable if his negligence concurred with the negligence of * * * the two fellow workers of plaintiff. Neither * * * had any responsibility for the safety of plaintiff except as [he] may have delegated to them the duty * * *. It would seem that to^ whatever extent [they] were required to be on the lookout, they were acting on behalf of plaintiff, and * * * their negligence, if any, would be the negligence of plaintiff and the instruction [on concurrent negligence] amounts to instructing * * * that the defendant would be liable if his negligence concurred with [that] of plaintiff.”

This whole reasoning is unsound. It rests on the erroneous assumption that plaintiff may have delegated to his fellow servants his duty (of avoiding contributory negligence) in such manner as to make their negligence in that respect imputable to himself. In other words, that by such delegation he made impossible any recovery by himself for personal injury caused by negligence of defendant without establishing not merely his own care but also that of his companions.

The last paragraph of the instruction (which defendant argues is correct) announces the impossibility of a delegation that would excuse plaintiff from exercising care. Plaintiff could not delegate his responsibility, neither could he enlarge it by delegation — by creating additional safeguards, the failure of which might constitute contributory negligence.

The real difficulty is there was no occasion for any instruction on either concurrent or imputed negligence.

[808]*808The record shows no conduct of either Martin or Staley requiring any reference to concurrent negligence. If it could be assumed they failed to keep proper lookout at the crossing that was not a violation of any duty they owed plaintiff. It did not concur with the claimed negligence of defendant. It was not a cause of the collision for which they could be held liable to plaintiff.

As to imputed negligence. Plaintiff was driving the motorcar. He had full control of its movement as to speed, stopping and starting. There is no suggestion Staley or Martin had any responsibility for plaintiff’s safety or that he had depended on them or either of them in that respect. He says “I told Mr. Staley to look for everything, if he seen any broken rail or any car coming to the crossing, the same way I told Martin.”

This concerned their duty to their company, not to plaintiff. It was not a “delegation” of responsibility for plaintiff’s safety. There is no evidence he so considered it or relied on it. To apply the doctrine of imputed negligence here would be somewhat analogous to imputing to an automobile driver his guest’s negligence in failing to protect him from injury.

The relationship of the men on the motorcar as coemployees was not such as to justify an application of the imputed negligence doctrine. McBride v. Des Moines City Ry. Co., 134 Iowa 398, 407, 408, 109 N.W. 618; Grace v. Minneapolis & St. L. R. Co., 153 Iowa 418, 429, 430, 133 N.W. 672; Stoker v. Tri-City Ry. Co., 182 Iowa 1090, 1095 et seq., 165 N.W. 30, L. R. A. 1918F 515. Defendant does not cite any cases to the contrary.

It is to be noted defendant requested no instruction on imputed negligence as he must have done had he desired such instruction. Teufel v. Kaufmann, 233 Iowa 443, 445, 6 N.W.2d 850. He apparently did not try his case on that theory.

II. Does it follow that because the whole instruction (other than the unquoted part pertaining to proximate cause) was unnecessary it was therefore prejudicial ? Defendant argues it was confusing and contradictory. The argument loses much of its force in view of our conclusion in Division I. If there could be no imputable negligence and there was no evidence of [809]*809concurring negligence it is difficult to see how defendant was prejudiced. We do not think he was.

Defendant argues the last paragraph of the instruction is correct “but whether right or wrong it was the law of the case” and that “when you take” it and “then take the other part * * * and say, notwithstanding that the plaintiff was hound hy the negligence of Staley and Martm, that if the negligence of Evans [defendant] concurred * * * the plaintiff could recover, the absurdity is manifest.” (Italics supplied.)

The italicized words above either beg the question or are assumed to follow of necessity plaintiff’s inability to delegate his duty of exercising care for his own safety. Such conclusion does not follow. On the contrary, if plaintiff’s, duty was not delegated to plaintiff’s coemployees their negligence might, under some circumstances, concur with defendant’s to injure plaintiff.

We conclude the paragraphs complained of were unnecessary but not abstractly erroneous or contradictory.

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Pappas v. Evans
48 N.W.2d 298 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1951)

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Bluebook (online)
48 N.W.2d 298, 242 Iowa 804, 1951 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pappas-v-evans-iowa-1951.