161 A. 519 | Conn. | 1932
The plaintiff brought this action to recover damages for injuries which she claimed to have received in a collision between two automobiles about seven-thirty o'clock in the evening of December 4th, 1930. The plaintiff was riding in a car owned by her husband and driven by him in a southerly direction on Watertown Avenue in Waterbury, when a collision occurred between that car and one owned by the defendant, Al's Tire and Service Garage, Inc., then operated by the defendant William Genest, one of its employees. The action was brought against the defendant owner and Genest, the driver of the car. At the conclusion of the testimony, the court directed a verdict in favor of the defendant Al's Tire and Service Garage, Inc., and proceeded with the jury, to assess damages against the defendant Genest, who had failed to appear, and against whom judgment had been entered by default. There was evidence from which the jury might have found negligence on the part of Genest, but the ground upon which the court directed the verdict in favor of the defendant Al's Tire and Service Garage, Inc., was that the plaintiff had failed to show that the other defendant, Genest, was acting as the agent or servant in the business of his employer at the time of the accident. The propriety of the *381 court's action in directing the verdict is the principal question involved upon this appeal.
Taking the view of the evidence most favorable to the plaintiff, the jury might reasonably have found that at the time of the accident, and for a long time prior thereto, the defendant Al's Tire and Service Garage, Inc., was engaged in the business of selling and repairing automobile tires and servicing automobiles. In the conduct of its business, the corporation had several employees, and owned and used several automobiles, including a La Salle, which was being driven by Genest at the time of the accident. The defendant's main establishment was on West Main Street in Waterbury. Aloysius Demerske was the defendant's general manager, and had direct supervision of the conduct of the business, and general control of the employees connected therewith. William Genest, who operated the automobile at the time of the accident, was employed by the defendant corporation as a general utility man. His hours of employment were sometimes during the day, sometimes at night, and sometimes both day and night. The general manager at times required the employees of the company, including Genest, to work overtime. The company, upon special permission, occasionally allowed the use of the La Salle automobile to the employees including Genest, because it thereby desired to improve the spirit of the employees so that they would feel better disposed to work overtime, when requested. December 3d 1930, Genest commenced work at seven o'clock in the evening, and worked continuously until ten-thirty in the morning of December 4th, which included overtime work. On the latter day, he requested of the manager, and obtained from him, permission to use the La Salle car in order that Genest could take his wife and baby to Watertown. He obtained the car *382 at three-thirty in the afternoon of December 4th, and went directly to Cheshire, which is in the opposite direction from Watertown. Later that day, he returned from Cheshire to Waterbury, where he joined his wife and child, and started for Watertown, when the collision occurred. The manager of the defendant corporation permitted Genest to use the La Salle car on December 4th for the purpose of improving his spirit so that when requested to work overtime again, he would feel better disposed to do so.
It is well settled in our decisions that an employer is not liable for injuries or damage caused by the negligent operation of an automobile when it is being used by an employee for his own business or pleasure, and not in the master's business, although the owner has consented to such use. Adomaitis v. Hopkins,
The plaintiff places great reliance upon Ackerson v.Jennings Co., Inc.,
In the instant case, however, the car was loaned to Genest by the defendant company for a business wholly his own — to take his wife and child to Watertown. The fact that the manager of the company was actuated to lend the car by the belief that Genest's spirit toward the company would be improved and he would be more willing to work overtime if required, does not make the business in which Genest was engaged at the time of the accident the master's business. Of course, whenever an automobile is loaned by one person to be used by another, it is reasonable to suppose that the person loaning the same expects that the favor will be appreciated; or, as it is stated in Stenzler
v. Standard Gas Light Co.,
In the course of the trial, the plaintiff introduced the report of the accident made to the motor vehicle department by Genest. It was admitted as against Genest but, upon objection, was excluded as to the employer. This ruling was manifestly correct. Until the agency had been proved, the statements of an agent are not admissible against a principal. Voegeli
v. Waterbury Yellow Cab Co.,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.