ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY v. MAAR
No. 18,320
Appellate Court of Indiana
March 23, 1953
Rehearing denied May 14, 1953
115 N. E. 2d 450 | 111 N. E. 2d 82 | 112 N. E. 2d 240
KELLEY, J.
Petition to transfer dismissed November 18, 1953.
Davis & Williams, of Greenfield, for appellee.
KELLEY, J.—This is an action arising out of alleged negligence of appellant causing personal injuries to appellee. Verdict and judgment was for the appellee in the sum of $17,750.00.
Appellee brought the action by complaint filed on May 1, 1948, which alleged that on February 21, 1947, he was employed at his trade as a structural steel worker on a building then being constructed by the Eli Lilly Company in the city of Indianapolis. In addition to the appellant, said complaint named Claude Wilson and Freeman Herron as defendants and alleged that on said date they were employed by the appellant as hod carriers at said building, and that they were loading on an elevator cartons of a product of appellant known as Foam Glass. It is further averred that while
Under instructions by the court, unobjected to, the issue of negligence averred in specifications a., c. and f. were withdrawn from the consideration of the jury, as was also rhetorical paragraph 3 of the complaint which charged that the “defendants operated and were in control of a certain elevator or hoist used in the erection of said building at said time and place.” (Our emphasis.) Appellee made no objection to the withdrawal by the court of said issues from the jury and they will receive no further consideration. It is, however, appropriate at this point to say that specification b. charged that appellant negligently and carelessly ”placed said elevator or hoist into operation” (our emphasis) before all of said cartons were within the floor space of the hoist, and appellant contends that said specification b. was withdrawn by the court‘s instruction No. 10 which was identical with instruction No. 9 requested by appellant and given by the court. Appellant had tendered its instruction No. 10, which contained the exact wording of said specification b. (our emphasis), and which would have withdrawn said issue from the jury. But the court refused to give said instruction No. 10 and, instead, gave appellant‘s said tendered instruction No. 9, which contained the wording of said rhetorical paragraph 3 of appellee‘s com-
The charges of negligence in appellee‘s complaint which went to the jury are, in substance, that: b. The appellant negligently “placed said hoist into operation” before all of the cartons were within the floor space of the hoist and that one of the cartons was partly extending beyond the floor space; d. The appellant was negligent in failing to warn appellee “that a certain box was protruding and extending over the edge of the platform of the hoist or elevator and that said box might fall” on the appellee; and, e. The appellant was negligent in “failing to place a guard at the floor where said elevator or hoist left” to warn fellow workmen of existing danger. It is averred that appellants’ negligence was the “direct cause” of appellee‘s injuries.
Before submission for trial, the action was dismissed as to the defendants Claude Wilson and Freeman Herron, and they will not be further noticed as parties to the action.
Appellant put the complaint at issue by an appropriate answer of admission and denial and a second paragraph of answer alleging in substance that at the time of his injuries appellee was employed by one Leslie Colvin and that his injuries were received “by an accident arising out of and in the course of his said employment“; that on March 18, 1947, an agreement as to compensation under the terms of the Indiana Workmen‘s Compensation law was filed with and approved by the Industrial Board and appellee “has accepted weekly benefits of compensation” and has received medical treatment under said agreement.
Appellee replied to said second paragraph of answer by denial thereof and by an amended second paragraph
At the close of plaintiff‘s evidence, appellant moved for a peremptory instruction, which was denied and appellant renewed its motion at the close of all the evidence, with the same result.
Appellant‘s motion for a new trial containing thirteen specifications wаs duly filed and overruled. This adverse ruling is the only error assigned for reversal.
The thirteen specifications for a new trial resolve themselves into three main inquiries which are, and will be disposed of in the order following, viz.: (1) Did the appellee make an election to accept compensation under the provisions of the
(1) Under the issues presented by the second paragraph of appellant‘s answer and the amended second paragraph of appellee‘s reply, the question of whether any benefits or money accepted by appellee from his employer or his insurer were received as compensation or as a loan became a question of fact for the jury. The jury, by its general verdict, found the issue in favor of appellee. The appellant challenges this finding by asserting error in the admis-
The appellant occupies thе position of a third party tort-feasor which has inflicted injury upon an employee of another. That part of our
“Whenever an injury or death, for which compensation is payable under this act, shall have been sustained under circumstances creating in some other person than the employer a legal liability to pay damages in respect thereto, the injured employee . . . may claim compensation from the employer or proceed at law against such other person to recover damаges or may proceed against the employer for compensation and against such other person . . . at the same time but he shall not collect from both; . . .“. (Our emphasis.)
Under said section of the Act and the amendment thereto it has been held that: (1) The purpose of the cited statute is to protect the employee and employer and not to protect or limit the liability of the negligent third person. New York Central R. Co. v. Milhiser (1952), 231 Ind. 180, 106 N. E. 2d 453; Marion County Construction Co. v. Kimberlin (1933), 96 Ind. App. 145, 150, 184 N. E. 574; Schneider, Workmen‘s Compensation, §§44-45; (2) that an employee may claim both an award of compensation against the employer and a judgment against the wrongdoer, and as long as there has been no col-
It thus becomes readily apparent that under said issue appellant assumed the burden of proof that appellee had “accepted weekly benefits of compensation” and the mere showing that a compensation agreement had been entered into by appellee, his employer, and the insurer would not, of itself, suffice to establish the alleged fact. Samuel E. Pentecost Const. Co. v. O‘Donnell (1942), 112 Ind. App. 47, 67, 39 N. E. 2d 812, 820. The appellant, to sustain his affirmative answer, put into evidence copies of cer-
To sustain the allegations of his reply, appellee testified that some four or five weeks after the accident the insurance adjuster, Given, had told him, in connection with the claim of appellee, in substance, that “we will see that you get the money and make that as a loan for you to help you out,” and there is further evidence to the same effect.
Appellee also offered into evidence certain documents, identified as Exhibits 12, 13, 15, 16 and 31. These exhibits, with the exception of No. 16, collectively purported to show certain proceedings before the Industrial Board, taken subsequent to the date appellee filed his complaint, resulting in an award of the Industrial Board setting aside the aforementioned compensation agreement of March 18, 1947. Exhibit No. 16 purports to be a loan agreement between appellee and his employer whereby appellee agrees to reimburse the employer for the advancement and loan. Appellant‘s objections to the admission of these exhibits into evidence were overruled by the
“Instruction No. 12
“There have been introduced into evidence certain papers marked Plaintiff‘s Exhibits 12, 13, 15, 16, 31 and 46. The Court instructs you that none оf the facts stated in any of these exhibits is evidence of the existence of such facts. The Court admitted these exhibits merely to let it be shown what was done by the plaintiff and his employer and his employer‘s insurance company before the Industrial Board.”
No other evidence was offered or admitted on the matters exemplified by these exhibits. Therefore, under appellant‘s own Instruction No. 12, said exhibits had no probative value to the jury. If the exhibits were not proof of the facts contained therein, then no evidence of such facts went to the jury from any source. Consequently, appellant could not have been in any way harmed thereby. Their admission was for all practical purposes an idle ceremony. Appellant, having occasioned this unfortunate situation by its own instruction, thereby waived its objections to said exhibits. Oglebay v. Tippecanoe Loan Co. (1907), 41 Ind. App. 481, 485, 82 N. E. 494.
There was evidence of probative value which went to the jury on the question of whether the money re-
The remaining error claimed by appellant on this phase of the case is that the court erred in refusing to give appellant‘s tendered Instruction No. 3. Said instruction is as follows:
“Instruction No. 3
“I instruct you that this action was commenced on May 1, 1948, and that if you should find that on said date there was in existence a workmen‘s compensation agreement approved by the Indiana Industrial Board under which the plaintiff had accepted workmen‘s compensation benefits, then your verdict should be for the defendants.”
There was no error in refusing this instruction. Instruction No. 3 asked by appеllant is fully covered by the court‘s Instruction No. 1. There is no error in the refusal of the court to give to the jury an instruction tendered by a party, where the substance thereof is included in the instructions given. The Indianapolis and St. Louis R. R. Co. v. Stout, Admr. (1876), 53 Ind. 143; Union Traction Co. of Ind. v. Schuster (1924), 81 Ind. App. 548, 144 N. E. 246. The cases supporting this rule are too numerous for citation.
(2) We next consider the specification of appellant‘s motion for a new trial which asserts that the verdict is not sustained by sufficient evidence. Under this heading we will also consider the specification of
Instruction No. 1 tendered by appellant and refused by the court would have withdrawn from the jury Specification e. of appellee‘s complaint charging appellant with negligence “in failing to place a guard at the floor where said elevator or hoist left to warn fellow workmen of the danger that existed.” Tendered Instruction No. 7, refused by the court, undertook to withdraw from consideration of the jury, Specification d. of appellee‘s complaint, charging appellant with negligence “in failing to warn the plaintiff that a certain box was protruding and extending over the edge of the platform of the hoist or elevator and that said box might fall on the plaintiff.” And tendered Instruction No. 10, refused by the court, sought to withdraw from consideration by the jury Specification b. in appellee‘s complaint which alleged that appellant “negligently and carelessly placed said elevator or hoist into operation before all of the said cartons were placed within the floor space of the hoist . . . and one of the cartons was partly extending beyond said floor space . . .“.
Any еrror of the court in refusing to give said tendered Instructions Nos. 1, 7 and 10 is dependent upon whether there was evidence of probative value which went to the jury on the issue of negligence as charged in specifications lettered b., d. and e. of the complaint. Appellant did not challenge the
We embark upon a review of the evidence on the charges of negligence impressed and guided by certain established rules, viz.: that on appeal we will not weigh conflicting evidence; only the evidence most favorable to the appellee will be considered by us; if there is some evidence, or reasonable inference that may be drawn therefrom, to sustain each material element essential to recovery, we must affirm the judgment; and our examination is bent mainly to ascertain whether at any point there is an entire lack of evidence to support the jury‘s finding.
There is evidence and reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the evidence that the appellee, a man in his early sixties, was аn employee of one Leslie Colvin, who held a construction contract for the erection of a four-story building for the Eli Lilly Company in the city of Indianapolis, and on February 21, 1947 was engaged, as such employee, in the performance of his work as an ornamental structural steel worker on said building; that the appellant then had in its employ as hod carriers on said building two men known as Claude Wilson and Freeman Herron. At one side of said building, and some three feet outward therefrom, there was built a square wooden tower extending from the ground up to the fourth floor of the building and within the tower enclosure there was a platform approximately four feet square which was hoisted up and down within the tower frame by means of pulleys and a cable which was attached to a
Appellant furnished insulation material known as Foam Glass for use on said building. Said Foam Glass came enclosed in cardboard cartons weighing approximately 35 pounds each. On the day of the accident said employees of appellant, at about the noon hour period, stacked or loaded some of said cartons of Foam Glass on said hoist so that the same could be lifted up to the place where needed, and some of the cartons protruded out past the edge of the floor or platform of the hoist; the attention of said employees was called to the protruding cartons by Brewer Gill, who was also an employee at work on said building and he requested them to straighten up the cartons; the time of such notification concerning the protruding cartons was fixed by the evidence at five minutes of twelve noon and the accident occurred close to the noon hour; appellant placed no guards at the foot or bottom of the tower nor did it warn appellee of possible danger. The appellee and a fellow worker were carrying a steel beam for use in the building which they had picked up at a short distance from the building, and when appellee, who was at the forward еnd of the beam, reached a point some six or eight feet from the hoist, “something
Appellant contends, however, that “If Gill did see some of the boxes protruding and did have the conversation with Wilson and Herron, there is no showing that Wilson and Herron did not straighten up the boxes,” and calls attention to the five minute interval between the time Gill saw the protruding cartons and the time of the accident. The absence of any showing as to what Wilson and Herron did after their attention was called to the protruding cartons is the fault of the appellant, not the appellee. There is evidence that the load which Gill saw and warned about was the only load taken up during the five minute interval, and when appellee had carried his onus of proof down to the point of establishing that the cartons protruded and warning thereof was given appellant, it then became the duty of appellant to go forward with the evidеnce to meet the evidence produced by the appellee. The jury could infer, and from the verdict it appears that it did so infer, that the load went up with protruding cartons. On this issue in the cause, appellee had made his prima facie case and the burden of explanation or establishing that Wilson and Herron did straighten up the cartons so that they no longer protruded over the edge of the platform, shifted to appellant. “The burden of showing negligence is on the plaintiff and it never shifts, but the duty of proceeding with the evidence may shift
Appellant further advances a contention of unexplainable accident. Appellant says: “There are several possible explanations of this accident. Wilson and Herron could have negligently stacked the material on the platform so that a box protruded over the edge, struck the cross member of the frame of the hoist, causing the box to tip over and the cross member to break. This is not shown to have been the case by the evidence.” Then appellant proceeds to outline several possibilities as to how the accident could have occurred and cites the case of Prest-O-Lite Company v. Skeel (1914), 182 Ind. 593, 599, 106 N. E. 365, 367, 368, wherein it is held that “where an event takes place the real cause of which cannot be traced, or is at least not apparent, it ordinarily belongs to that class of occurrences which are designated as purely accidental; . . .“. (Our emphasis.) Apparently appellant is laboring under a misconceived notion that since there is no direct evidence as to the exact happening which caused the box to fall, that is, whether it caught on to a cross-brace, or whether the stack of boxes tipped over, or whether the sudden drop and jerk of the platform, as was indicated in some portions of the evidence, loosened the box from the stack allowing it to fall, that, therefore, the occurrence was a pure accident for which appellant is under no legal obligation. The evidence in the case at bar repels any idea of an “acci-
We conclude that under the evidence there was no error in the court‘s refusal to give appellant‘s tendered instructions numbered 1, 7, and 10.
The evidence was sufficient to sustain each material averment of the complaint as to negligence of the appellant and the court committed no error in overruling appellant‘s motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence. It follows, also, that there wаs no error in the court‘s refusal to give appellant‘s Instruction “B” tendered with the motion for a directed verdict.
We find nothing which would render the verdict of the jury contrary to law.
(3) In its motion for a new trial, appellant asserts that the damages assessed are excessive.
We will not reverse judgments in tort actions, on the ground of excessive damages, unless the assessment is so large as to make it appear that the jury acted from prejudice, partiality, passion, or corruption. Wabash R. Co. v. McDaniels (1914), 183 Ind. 104, 113, 107 N. E. 291; Creamery Package Manufacturing Co. v. Hotsenfiller (1902), 159 Ind. 99, 105, 64 N. E. 600. The amount of recovery is a matter for the jury. Wabash R. Co. v. McDaniels, supra.
The evidence establishes that appellee was a man of some sixty-two years of age in excellent health with a life expectancy of 12.86 years; that his earnings from his wоrk were in the neighborhood of $100.00 per week; that he was rendered unconscious for four hours from the blow on his head by the falling carton; that as a result of his injuries, he has suffered great pain; his faculty of memory is
We have given careful consideration to each of appellant‘s specifications of error and find no available error in the record. The judgment is, therefore, affirmed.
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING
KELLEY, J.—Appellant petitions for rehearing specifying eight (8) contentions.
(1). Appellant suggests that the time of apрellee‘s conversation with Given, the insurance adjuster, was the first week in March, 1947. The record may be somewhat confusing as to the exact circumstances. Appellee testified that he had a conversation about the matter four or five weeks after his injuries with a man whose name he did not then know. Later, in further testimony, it became apparent that the name of the insurance adjuster was “Given.” However, we do not think the exact time is controlling. The basic question upon the issue was whether appellee had accepted
Appellant says that we did not state what evidence we had in mind when we stated “and there is further evidence to the same effect.” There was additional testimony given by the appellee which was of the same import as that quoted. Inferences could be also drawn from the testimony of Lawrence Shedd relative to Given‘s authority. Appellant apparently disregards the rule that on appeal we consider only the evidence most favorable to appellee.
(2). Appellant next says that we erred in “holding that there was no error in admitting into evidence appellee‘s Exhibits 12, 13, 15, 16, and 31.” Apparently appellant has not thoroughly comprehended our opinion. We made no such holding. What we held was that said exhibits, admitted over the objection of appellant, had no probative value because the court gave appellant‘s tendered Instruction 12, which we set forth verbatim in the opinion. No other evidence was offered or admitted on the question. Further, by reason of such instruction given at appellant‘s behest, the latter waived its objections to the admission of the exhibits. Oglebay v. Tippecanoe Loan Company (1907), 41 Ind. App. 481, 485, 82 N. E. 494.
(3). It is said that we erred in holding that it was not error to refuse appellant‘s tendered Instruction
(4). Appellant avers that the “undisputed” evidence holds that Young was in the employ of Leslie Colvin and that we erred in holding that at the time of the accident he was in the employ of appellant. On page 189 of the transcript we find from the testimony of said Harve S. Young the following: Question: “Were you (Young) working there about 11:30 or 12:00 o‘clock on that day?” Answer: “I was.” Question: “And can you tell this jury at that time who you were employed by?” Answer: “Armstrong Cork Company.” Evidence to the same effect was given by Young in other parts of his testimony. This does not indicate “undisputed” evidence that Young was employed by Colvin at the time of the accident.
(5). It is claimed that we erred “in failing to hold that the evidence concerning the protruding of the boxes is given solely as to the condition of the boxes when the hoist was at the ground level and that the “undisputed” evidence “. . . is that the hoist was in a stationary position at the second floor when boxes were loaded . . .” We have reviewed thе record and do not find any reason to change our opinion in this regard.
(6). (7). Appellant contends we erred in holding that it had full and exclusive control of the instrumentality causing the accident and that the “undisputed” evidence is that Leslie Colvin owned the hoist and operated it through his employee, Harve Young. We have again perused the record and adhere to our holding. The “undisputed” evidence is not such as appellant contends.
Petition for rehearing denied.
NOTE.—Reported in 111 N. E. 2d 82 and Rehearing denied in 112 N. E. 2d 240.
KELLEY, J.
PRESIDING JUDGE
