2 N.W.2d 419 | Minn. | 1942
Lead Opinion
On March 15, 1939, plaintiff entered defendant's store to buy some material for a smock. She went behind the counter to examine the materials and was returning to the main aisle when, as she rounded the inside corner of the counter, her left foot went out from under her and she fell to the floor. She testified that there was dirt and gravel on the floor which stuck to her hands when she got up and that the place where she slipped was shiny and slippery as if somebody had waxed it. She noticed a streak about a foot long where her foot slid. The floor between the *603 counters where she slipped was described by her as having a harder, shinier surface than that in the main aisle, which was worn down.
Defendant maintained its floors with Myco Sheen, a liquid compound manufactured by the Masury-Young Company. A representative of that company testifying for defendant described Myco Sheen as a combination of gums and solvents designed to clean and preserve the floor and to control dust. He further testified that around 18,000 retail stores in the United States use it. According to the testimony of defendant's witnesses, an application of Myco Sheen had last been given the floor two months before the accident. It was, they testified, put on with an ordinary mop, rubbed into the floor, and then gone over with a dry mop. Each evening the floor was swept with a dry yarn mop to remove dust and dirt.
Plaintiff does not claim that defendant was negligent in choosing Myco Sheen for the maintenance of its floors. Certainly any such claim would have no support in the record. Plaintiff, however, does claim that defendant was somehow negligent in the manner or means of applying it. The trial court decided that the only proof of negligence was that the floor was slippery and that, under Dunham v. Hubert W. White, Inc.
It is plain that the law imposes a duty upon the proprietor of a store or shop to exercise due care for the safety and protection of customers. McIntyre v. Holtman,
Here we must decide whether there is any evidence which taken most favorably to plaintiff is reasonably sufficient to prove that defendant was negligent in the manner of applying Myco Sheen to its floors. The testimony introduced on behalf of defendant showed that Myco Sheen when properly applied gives the floor a gritty feeling and does not make it slippery. In view of that testimony, is not evidence that the floor was actually slippery ground for an inference that defendant improperly or negligently applied it? We think so. Moreover, there was testimony to the effect that defendant had not complied with that portion of the instructions issued by the manufacturer directing that the yarn mop which defendant used to sweep dust and dirt from its floors *605 should be filled once a week with one cup of Myco Sheen. The only direct testimony in the case as to the effect of this violation was given by a representative of the manufacturer, who testified that it would not tend to make the floor slippery. Indeed, "it would be just the reverse, that the broom would not sweep the floor as clean and would leave sort of a film on the floor. The reason that cupful is put on the floor is to hold the dust and wipe the floor cleaner. That is the only difference." However, in view of plaintiff's testimony that the floor where she fell was slippery, we think that a fact question was presented as to whether the Myco Sheen was properly applied.
In McIntyre v. Holtman,
We think the trial court was right in submitting the issue of defendant's negligence to the jury but erred in setting aside the verdict and granting defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Judgment reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
Such deviation as there was from conformance with the manufacturer's directions could not have created any hazard. Such is the evidence, and all of it. Hence I fail to find anything from which to infer reasonably that defendant was guilty of any negligence contributing to plaintiff's injury. *606