Shunkamolah v. Potter Delco

1928 OK 343, 268 P. 270, 131 Okla. 272, 1928 Okla. LEXIS 651
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 22, 1928
Docket18169
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1928 OK 343 (Shunkamolah v. Potter Delco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shunkamolah v. Potter Delco, 1928 OK 343, 268 P. 270, 131 Okla. 272, 1928 Okla. LEXIS 651 (Okla. 1928).

Opinion

REID, C.

This ease was originally ■brought by Elmer Potter, as next friend and for tbe benefit of Pay Potter, a minor, and upon judgment for plaintiff tbe case was appealed to this court, and reversed, as shown by tbe opinion in 106 Okla. 91, 233 Pac. 189.

After tbe reversal of tbe case, tbe plaintiff being of age, and married, the suit was prosecuted by second amended petition, in her own name of Pay Potter Delco. Upon a retrial, tbe plaintiff again got a judgment against the defendants, Joe and Margaret Sbunkamolab, from which tbe defendants appeal.

Tbe plaintiff alleged in ber second amended petition that, on tbe 24th day of December, 1922, she was in tbe employment of tbe defendants in tbe capacity of household servant, under an oral contract of employment. in which ber duties consisted in doing whatever was needed about tbe bouse and taking care of tbe children of tbe defendants; that on said date she was requested by tbe defendants, in due course of such employment, to accompany, them from their home in Hominy to tbe Indian village near tbe town of Hominy, and take care of their children during tbe progress of a Christmas entertainment; that under tbe contract of employment entered into between tbe defendants and tbe parents of the plaintiff, it was agreed that tbe plaintiff might accompany tbe defendants to tbe Indian, village for tbe purpose heretofore stated, with tbe further consideration that tbe defendants expressly agreed that they would furnish plaintiff with a safe means of conveyance from tbe entertainment to her home; that she was taken to tbe entertainment in an automobile belonging to defendants, and driven by Andrew Collins, and while at tbe entertainment she performed ber contract to take care of defendants’ children; that at tbe conclusion of tbe entertainment, tbe defendants informed tbe plaintiff that they did not have room in their car, and that she would have to ride in said automobile driven by Andrew Collins, an employee of tbe defendants, and that it was necessary that plaintiff ride in this automobile in order to reach ber home, as it was unsafe for ber to walk home alone in tbe dark, or to remain after tbe others bad gone; that said automobile was defective and unsafe in that it had no lights; that tbe condition of tbe car, in which plaintiff was told she must go to ber home with tbe said Andrew Collins, was known to the defendants, and in the exercise of ordinary care and intelligence, they must have known that it was unsafe to travel at that time in said defective automobile to said place; that said defective automobile was not a reasonably safe means of conveyance from said place of entertainment to ber home in Hominy; and that the defendants in violation of their contract refused and failed to furnish tbe plaintiff with a reasonably safe means of conveyance to her home as they bad expressly agreed' to do; that said plaintiff entered tbe automobile at said time and place in tbe usual course of her employment and for tbe sole purpose of being conveyed by the defendants to ber home, and said automobile was by tbe said Andrew Collins, as servant of tbe defendants, in the usual course of his employment as such, driven toward tbe city of Hominy, Okla., and the home of plaintiff; that because of tbe fact that said automobile had no lights, tbe auto *274 mobile was driven, by tbe servant of tlie defendants off the road into a tree or fence post, and that the force of the collision broke the windshield of the automobile, and the plaintiff was thrown into the windshield and severely cut and injured, the injury being described; and for all of which she prayed judgment for her damages.

The defendants answered: (1) By a general denial. (2) By denial that they entered into the contract as alleged in plaintiff’s petition. (3) They denied all negligence such as alleged in plaintiff’s petition.

The case was tried before a jury and a verdict was returned for the plaintiff, from which the defendants appeal to this court. The assignments of error will be discussed as they appear in the brief of the plaintiffs in error, who will hereinafter ¡be called defendants.

The defendants say that the evidence is hot sufficient to support the verdict of the jury. Therefore, it is necessary to review only the evidence tending to sustain the verdict.

The evidence of the plaintiff shows that sometime prior to Thanksgiving Day, 1922, the defendants came to the home of the parents of the plaintiff, and that it was agreed-between the father and the defendants, with the consent of the plaintiff, who was 17 years of age, that plaintiff could work for the defendants in taking care of their children. Plaintiff began working just prior to Thanksgiving, and worked about two weeks; she then stayed at home a week, and returned to her previous employment. It was a part of the original contract made between the father of the plaintiff and the defendants that they would convey her home every evening after she was done with her work, and this was carried out by the defendants.

On Christmas Eve day Potter and his wife went to the home of the defendants where their daughter was at work, and where they had gone on other business than her employment. While there the defendant Margaret Shunkamolah asked the father of the plaintiff if the plaintiff could go to a Christmas tree with them and take care of their children, and further said there was a present on the tree for the plaintiff and she wanted her to get it.

Plaintiff’s father asked if they would bring her home, and both defendants said they would, and then the father consented that his daughter could go. The¡ defendants and plaintiff’s family all lived in the town of Hominy, but the Christmas tree was to be held in what was called the roundhouse, a tribal meeting house for the Osages outside the town of Hominy and in an Osage village. The foregoing was testified to by the parents of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff testified that she did not hear the conversation as to her going to' the Christmas tree, but that when she went into the room where they all had been talking, hei- mother told her she could go. The plaintiff further testified that when the defendants left the house, they told her to help the cook wash the dishes, and she remained there about 30 minutes for this purpose; that at the direction of the defendants, she went to the roundhouse with some other persons, in a car which belonged to Joe Shunkamolah, driven toy Andrew Collins, who was at that time employed by Shunkamolah. They got to the roundhouse before dark, and she did not know there was anything wrong with the lights on the ear. After she arrived at the roundhouse she went to where Margaret Shunkamolah was, and stayed with her until the Christmas tree was over; helping to take care of the children while there. When the entertainment was over, Margaret Shunkamolah told her to go home with Andrew, and she then gave Margaret the baby. She saw Joe Shunkamolah at the door, and he told her to go home with Andrew; that she had no knowledge that there were no lights on the car until after she got in the car with Andrew Collins and started home; that the ear had on it what they called a “dad’s light” or flash light; that it failed to work after they had gone a short distance, and after that they did not have any light at all until they got to the top of the hill where there was a street light; that when they got near the city limits of Hominy, and near the street light, Andrew ran the car off the road into a fence post throwing her against the windshield, which caused her injuries.

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Bluebook (online)
1928 OK 343, 268 P. 270, 131 Okla. 272, 1928 Okla. LEXIS 651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shunkamolah-v-potter-delco-okla-1928.