Spiers v. Consolidated Companies, Inc.

125 So. 2d 795, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 1325
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 21, 1960
DocketNo. 4977; On Rehearing No. 5092
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 125 So. 2d 795 (Spiers v. Consolidated Companies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spiers v. Consolidated Companies, Inc., 125 So. 2d 795, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 1325 (La. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinions

LANDRY, Judge.

This matter presents the appeal of defendant Consolidated Companies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to simply as “Consolidated”), and its liability insurer, The Travelers Insurance Company, from a civil jury verdict in favor of plaintiff, Luther Spiers, a railway conductor formerly employed by the Kansas City Southern and Louisiana & Arkansas Railway Company (hereinafter referred to simply as L & A), and judgment of the lower court predicated thereon in the sum of $50,000 for personal injuries allegedly sustained by plaintiff at or about 8:40 A.M., October 16, 1956, on which occasion plaintiff was violently thrown from his seat in the caboose of a long freight train operated by his employer when the train made an emergency stop within the city limits of the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to avoid striking a truck belonging to Consolidated and left standing upon the main line track of L & A.

Plaintiff’s version of the incidents leading to the accident was set forth in an original petition filed October 15, 1957, and a supplemental and amended petition filed March 10, 1959. In the former it is alleged the accident occurred October 19, 1956, while in the latter the date of the accident is said to be October 16, 1956. The petitions relate that Consolidated, through a subsidiary known as Cash Grocery and Sales Company, maintained and operated a large warehouse situated on the east side of and adjacent to the L & A right of way in the block bounded by Main Street on the north and Laurel Street on the south.. Plaintiff alleges (and the evidence shows) the L & A tracks run north and south immediately to the east of defendant’s warehouse and make a rather long “S” curve to' the south thereof. It is further alleged that the L & A has constructed a spur or side track along the western edge of its-right of way parallel and adjacent to defendant’s warehouse for the specific purpose of serving defendant’s business with direct access to railway facilities. The pleadings allege that to the east of this spur-track is situated the main line track of the L & A Railway which the evidence shows is located approximately 12 feet east of the-aforementioned spur. Plaintiff next sets-forth that on the morning of the accident,, .a freight car was standing near the south end of defendant’s warehouse (a few feet north of Laurel Street) and a truck belonging to defendant was backed up to the door on the east side of the box car to either load or unload same and was positioned in such manner that it was at a right angle to the box car with its front wheels extending beyond both rails of the main line of the railroad blocking or, in railroad parlance, “fouling” the main line. It is averred in the petitions that L & A train No. 42 (a freight train consisting of 3 diesel engines drawing a string of approximately 120 freight cars and the caboose in which plaintiff was riding), traveling northerly along the main line en route from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Alexandria, Louisiana, at a speed of approximately 8 miles per hour, approached the impediment thus created but, because of the curve in the track and the presence of a house and tree adjacent to the east side of the right of way, the enginer could not observe the obstruction in time to make a normal stop. Plaintiff alleges that in order to avoid striking the truck, the engineer “bigholed”' [798]*798the train (a railroad idiom meaning an ■emergency stop) resulting in plaintiff being violently ejected from his seat in the caboose and thrown to the floor as a result of which plaintiff sustained a right inguinal hernia.

The petition continues by relating that subsequent to the accident, plaintiff was hospitalized for a hemioplasty and while in tlie sanitarium recuperating therefrom he ■experienced vomiting and chest pains but was permitted to return home within four ■or five days following the surgery. Plaintiff then alleges that on November 9, 1956, he suffered a nearly fatal myocardial infarction or coronary thrombosis (in lay language a heart attack) which has rendered him totally and permanently disabled to perform his occupation as railway conductor and thereby necessitating his resignation from his former employment in such ■capacity. It is specifically alleged in plaintiff’s petition that the action of defendant’s employee in fouling the main line -was in express violation of the terms of •an agreement entered into by and between defendant and L & A on August 31, 1933, in which defendant is given the right to ■•use the railroad right of way between Laur.el and Main Streets, and more particularly paragraph 13 thereof.1 Finally plaintiff alleges his present disability (ad-mittedly resulting solely from his present heart condition) is either the direct result of the injury sustained in the accident of •October 16, 1956, or the accident caused the hernia necessitating the hernioplasty of October 27, 1956, and the myocardial infarction which followed the operation was a post operative complication either causing the infarction or aggravating a previous asymptomatic condition to the extent of producing disability which did not exist theretofore.

Defendants filed exceptions of no right and no cause of action which do not appear to have been passed upon in the lower court. These exceptions have not been argued before us either orally or in brief and are, therefore, presumed to be abandoned.

In answer to plaintiff’s original and supplemental petitions, defendant in effect denied the occurrence of the accident and alleged that with the knowledge and consent of the L & A defendant, its employees and customers have, since the year 1933, used that portion of the railroad right of way lying between Laurel and Main Streets, and particularly the part thereof adjacent to its warehouse, as a private driveway pursuant to the provisions of the agreement referred to in plaintiff’s petition. In substance, defendant further alleged it had no knowledge of the accident of October 16, 1956, until approximately 11 months thereafter when defendant .received a letter from plaintiff’s attorney dated September 18, 1957, wherein amicable, demand was made on behalf of plaintiff. Defendant contends its defense is made more onerous because of the conflicting dates upon which the accident is alleged to have occurred and no report of. such an incident was ever made to defendant by any of defendant’s employees. The answer next points out that in addition to’ the case at bar, plaintiff filed suit in the [799]*799Federal Court,2 wherein plaintiff sought recovery from his employer of the sum of $200,000 for injuries received while in the course of his employment and resulting from two accidents, one said to have oc-eurred in mid September, 1956, and the other on October 19, 1956, both of said accidents allegedly resulting from the negligent acts of railroad employees.3 Defendant further relates that it was drawn into [800]*800the Federal Court suit by third party petition filed by L & A subsequent to which development plaintiff compromised the suit against L & A for the sum of $20,000, reserving his rights against present defendant but reducing his demand against defendant to the sum of $50,000. In substance, defendant alleged that if its truck did in fact foul the main line as plaintiff contends, such action was not negligence in view of its agreement with L & A and its constant use of the right of way subsequent thereto.

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Related

Hebert v. Travelers Insurance Company
179 So. 2d 513 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1965)
Evans v. Phoenix Insurance Co.
175 So. 2d 425 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1965)
Daniel v. Reed
137 So. 2d 645 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1962)
Spiers v. Consolidated Companies, Inc.
132 So. 2d 879 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
125 So. 2d 795, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 1325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spiers-v-consolidated-companies-inc-lactapp-1960.