Tuckett v. American Steam & Hand Laundry

84 P. 500, 30 Utah 273, 1906 Utah LEXIS 66
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 13, 1906
DocketNo. 1627
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 84 P. 500 (Tuckett v. American Steam & Hand Laundry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tuckett v. American Steam & Hand Laundry, 84 P. 500, 30 Utah 273, 1906 Utah LEXIS 66 (Utah 1906).

Opinion

HOWELL, District Judge,

after stating the facts delivered the opinion of the court.

Though made as one of the grounds for a motion for a non-suit, counsel for respondent did not, in their oral argument, nor do they in their brief, very strenuously contend that the plaintiff failed to establish that respondent was negligent in permitting the machine to be in the condition disclosed by the testimony in this case. The evidence shows that, “when the machine is in good working order, the table comes back automatically.” It is true that while appellant testified positively that to the knowledge of the respondent, through its superintendent, the machine ran in a jerky and unsteady manner while she was operáting it, and that the ironing board or table would not return automatically to its place after being sent forward under the roller, she was not able to point out the particular defect in the machine which was the cause of it running in the manner it did and being in the condition [283]*283in which it was. This difficulty was, however, fully considered in the case of Mangum v. Bullion, etc., Min. Co., 15 Utah 534, 50 Pac. 834, and it was therein held that it was not necessary for the plaintiff to point out the precise defects. It appeared in that case that the plaintiff was injured by reason of the unsafe and defective condition of the machinery connected with and used in the hoisting of a cage in defendant’s mine. Justice Bartch, delivering the opinion of a unanimous court, used the following language with reference to the objection made that the particular defect that caused the injury was not pointed out by the plaintiff:

“It is also urged tliat the respondent cannot recover, because he failed to show specifically what particular defect caused the accident. If this position were sound, then, in many cases of this character, the injured servant could not recover, regardless of the negligence of the employer; for, while such servant'may know the general or immediate cause of the injury, it frequently happens that he is unable to point out the particular defects which actually did cause it, and yet it may be clear enough that the employer’s negligence was the proximate cause. In this ease the immediate cause of the injury was clearly shown; and if, as the jury must have found, the occurrence took place through the negligence of the employer, and if the evidence warrants such a finding, and we think it does, then the plaintiff is entitled to recover, notwithstanding that no witness was able to name with absolute certainty the exact mechanical defect which caused the cage to stop. In Nelson v. Plow Works, 57 Minn. 48, Mr. Justice Mitchell said: 'If the evidence justified the jury, as we think it did, in finding that the “drop” fell because of the defective condition of the machine, and that such defective condition was chargeable' to the negligence of the defendant, it was not essential to plaintiff’s recovery that he should be able to show what the exact nature of the defect was.’ (Railroad Co. v. Lannigan [Kan. Sup.], 42 Pac. 343.)”

So, here, if the testimony of the plaintiff be true, and we must assume that it is, for upon a motion for a nonsuit we are not only not permitted to weigh testimony as a jury would, but, on the contrary, must consider it in the most favorable light for the plaintiff, then there can be no doubt that the machine in question was in a very defective condition and defendant knew it, or ought to have known it, for the matter was brought to its attention through the complaints of the plaintiff and by the observation of the superintendent. The plaintiff could not say whether the defect resulted from [284]*284a failure to adjust the machine properly, or whether it was due to it being out of repair — all she could say was that it was not running shortly. The plaintiff was not only ignorant of the mechanism of machinery in general, but she had no knowledge of the mechanism of this particular machine, though she had operated it for some time. A person may operate a machine for a long time and yet have no technical knowledge of its construction or operation, so it is not surprising that, while the plaintiff realized that the machine Avas not running evenly as it should, she could assign no particular reason for it. The plaintiff also testified that, when she commenced to use the machine and allowed the table or board to run just to its end, it would return automatically to its former position; that, when she allowed it to run to the bumper, it would not so return; and that, when she again only allowed it to run to the end, it would not then return as it did at first.

It is insisted by counsel for the defendant and respondent that the failure of the table or board to return automatically could have no bearing on the accident, because the plaintiff was injured while the table or board was in the forward motion, and, while that may be true, the behavior of the table or board under these various circumstances and at these different times conclusively demonstrates that there was something wrong -with the machine, for the reasonable inference from the testimony is that the table or board should haVe returned automatically under any and all circumstances, and would have done so had the machine been in good working order. What caused the irregularity in the action of the board or table is not so clear, but this defect, as well as the jerky running, was known to the defendant, and the causes therefore were also known, and ought to have been known by it because of its duty to inspect its machinery and keep it in repair. Under such circumstances the jury might reasonably say that the defendant had not performed its full duty to the plaintiff in exercising ordinary and reasonable care to obtain a reasonably safe machine for the plaintiff to operate. As was said in the Mangum Case, supra:

[285]*285“While the employer is not required to furnish machinery and appliances for the use of its servant which are absolutely safe, or to fur-nisli the best which can possibly be obtained, still it is his duty to exercise ordinary and reasonable care and diligence to obtain and furnish such as are reasonably safe, and reasonably well adapted to perform the work for which they are intended, and such as the servant may, with the exercise of ordinary priidence and care, use in the performance of his work with reasonable safety to himself; and it is likewise the employer’s duty to exercise reasonable care in operating the same, and to keep them in suitable condition and repair. Whether in the case at bar the defendant, as employer, performed its duty in these regards, or whether it was negligent in furnishing the machinery and appliances used by the injured servant, or in keeping them in suitable condition and repair, were questions of fact, to be determined by the jury from all the circumstances surrounding the occurrence which caused the injury, and which were in evidence; and the record fails to present a case which authorizes the court to say as matter of law that the defendant was not negligent, and that the plaintiff cannot recover. Such a judgment is warranted only where the record presents such a state of facts that all reasonable men must arrive at the same conclusion from a consideration of them. (Hall v. Railway Co., 13 Utah 259, 44 Pac. 1046, 57 Am. St. Rep. 726; Saunders v. So. Pac. Co., 13 Utah 275, 44 Pac. 932.)”

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

Related

Taylor v. Los Angeles & S. L. R. Co.
216 P. 239 (Utah Supreme Court, 1923)
McCreery v. Union Roofing & Manufacturing Co.
119 N.W. 738 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1909)
Industrial Lumber Co. v. Bivens
105 S.W. 831 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1907)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
84 P. 500, 30 Utah 273, 1906 Utah LEXIS 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuckett-v-american-steam-hand-laundry-utah-1906.