134 Wis. 316 | Wis. | 1908
The following opinion was filed November 26, 190? :
Appellant avers that the court erred in holding defendant liable for the negligence found by the jury. The jury found by their verdict that the want of a sufficient light on the elevator platform at the time of the accident was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. It appears from the evidence, as above stated, that the want of sufficient light at the time and place of accident resulted from the turning off of the electric lights by the electrician in charge of the lights at the mill. He was empowered by the defendant and charged with the duty of turning the electric lights on and off, as he might find necessary under the varying conditions of the natural light The defendant had furnished all the light appliances necessary for the proper conduct of its business, and had committed to the electrician the duty of operating these appliances whenever it was necessary to furnish artificial light for the conduct of its business at the mill. The issue upon this branch of the case is whether or not it was the master’s duty, under the facts and circumstances shown, to turn on the light at this place so as to have sufficient light for the employees to do their work, or whether turning
There is no, dispute in the evidence that the defendant furnished a proper and complete equipment for lighting the place where plaintiff was working when he was injured and that the electrician was a reasonably competent employee for the discharge of the duty assigned to him. The turning on and off of the electric light as the exigencies of the business might require under the varying condition of the natural light in the mill is in its nature an incident to the daily operation of the business. The furnishing of proper appliances for light is clearly a duty of the master, but, after they are furnished, the act of operating them is of the same character as the operation of any other appliance furnished by the master. True, the negligent operation of the electric light appliances under the circumstances of this case affected the safety of the place of work of plaintiff and other employees in the mill, but this does not necessarily make it more than the negligent operation of a detail by an employee which made a working place dangerous to other employees. The fact that a working place may be rendered unsafe by reason of the negligent operation by an employee of an appliance furnished by the master does not preclude the master from committing the operation of such an appliance to a competent employee, and any injury to an employee due to such negligent operation of the appliance is not a failure of duty by the master to furnish a safe place or appliance, but is a negligent act of the servant in the conduct of a common employment. We are of opinion that the negligence complained of is of the class incident to the daily conduct of defendant’s business, one wherein a servant is intrusted with the performance of a function pertaining to a customary operative detail, and therefore it was not the negligence of the master in failing to furnish and maintain a safe place for the employees to work.
It is, however, contended that if the negligent act of the
Since the facts of the case are without dispute upon this question, it devolved on the court to grant defendant’s motion to direct a verdict in appellant’s favor. MacCarthy v. Whitcomb, supra.
By the Court. — Judgment reversed, and the cause remanded with directions that the court award judgment dismissing the complaint
A motion for a rehearing was denied January 28, 1908.