79 So. 868 | La. | 1918
This is an action for damages for personal injuries. A stepladder that was nailed to the end of a platform, on which the plaintiff worked, came loose and fell when he stepped upon it, and he suffered serious injuries by the fall. The express company was the plaintiff’s employer. The railroad company was the owner and lessor of the premises occupied by the express company, where the accident occurred. The action against the express company is founded upon the doctrine of responsibility of the master for failure to provide a safe place of employment for the servant; and the action against the railroad company is founded upon the provisions- of the Civil Code, to the effect that the owner of a building is responsible for injuries resulting from his failure to keep it in repair. Judgment was rendered against the express company for 87,500; the demand against the railroad company being rejected. The plaintiff and the express company both appealed. Thereafter the plaintiff died, and his legal representatives are prosecuting the appeal taken by him.
There is no doubt or dispute about the important facts of the case. The platform from which the plaintiff stepped and fell was about four feet high; the top of the ladder being a few inches lower. The approach from the street to the platform was by way of an incline, intended apparently for both pedestrians and wagons. A railroad track extended along the opposite side of the platform and into a private park of the railroad company, which was not leased to the express company. The end of the platform, on which the stepladder was nailed, also abutted on the private park. The employés of the express company were neither forbidden nor expressly permitted to go through the private park to and from their work, and they generally used that route. Some of the railroad employés, working on or about the private cars in the park, also went to and from their
The judgment in favor of the railroad company is affirmed, and the judgment against the express company is annulled, and the suit dismissed, at the cost of the plaintiffs.