Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I can not agree to tbe conclusion reached by the majority of the court. To me it appears that the case is controlled by the application of the following well-settled rule of law: Where it appears that a master furnished the servant with a number of simple appliances, from which it was the servant’s • duty to select and use those which were safe, sound, and without defects, the master will not be held liable for injuries resulting
Mrs. Minnie Stevens brought suit against the Bibb Manufacturing Company for personal injuries, alleging in her petition that at the time she was injured and for about four weeks preceding this time she was employed by the defendant in its mill, in the work of spooling yarn; that while she was working at her spooling-machine and was in the act of tying the thread on one of the spools of that machine, a splinter from an adjacent defective and splintered spool entered the third finger of her hand, near the joint next to the nail, and extended to the next joint or knuckle of that finger, and from the splinter her hand was infected, she suffered from blood-poison,' and the injuries complained of resulted. She further alleged that she did not, until after her hand was hurt, see any defect in the spool which inflicted the damage, and that this spool was supplied by the defendant for her use, and was placed on the machine by the defendant without her knowledge; that'the defective condition of the spool could have been discovered by the defendant by the exercise of ordinary care in the inspection of the machinery and appliances furnished her to do her allotted work; “that the defective condition of said spool was patent, and the same had been in said dangerous condition for a sufficient length of time for discovery by defendant, had defendant used ordinary care in this respect;” and that she had no knowledge that the spool which 'caused the injury was on the machine she was operating and was in a defective condition; and could not observe its condition by the use of ordinary care; that she had exercised all ordinary care and diligence in operating said machine, and was in no wise negligent at the time the injury occurred. The precise negligence complained of in the petition was: (1) Defendant failed to exercise ordinary care in furnishing the plaintiff with safe and suitable appliances with which to work, and was negligent in supplying her with a defective appliance with which to do the work she was employed to perform,— namely, the defective spool described in the petition; (2) in placing the said defective spool on the machine at which the plaintiff was at work; (3) in not inspecting and removing the spool, which was defective and splintered, from the machine at which the plain
1. The plaintiff testified, that the defendant furnished spools in a box to be placed on the machine at which she worked, and that she used 25 or 30 of such spools on the machine; that it was her duty to place the spools on the bobbins and to' select the spools to be used from the supply furnished in the box; that she observed that this particular spool was defective and splintered, and she removed it from the machine and threw it in the box and that Will Ward (who she said worked in the same room with her and at the same character of work, but who she alleged was a “second hand”) took it and put it back on the machine, and told her she must use it; that thereafter a splinter entered her finger from the defective spool, while she was tying a thread on an adjacent spool. The petition' alleged that the defendant placed the defective spool on the machine at which the plaintiff was employed, but the proof shows that the above-mentioned Will Ward in fact placed this spool upon the machine. Also, the plaintiff testified that she did not know that Ward had placed the defective spool back on her machine, and she likewise testified that she had before seen spools with splinters in them, and she knew she had to watch out for splinters, and therefore herself took off the worn spool and laid it in the box in front of her, and that she saw Ward take off the good spool with which she had replaced the defective spool, 'and that she “saw him take that up,” but she said she did not know that Ward was going to put the defective spool on the machine, as she did not see it. She further said that she was crying at the time her finger was injured, because Ward had been cursing her and abusing her, “and he [Ward] put that spool back on,” and that Ward told her that if she was going to remove the defective spool she could quit work. There is more evidence from this witness to the same effect; from all of which we may conclude that she not only had full knowledge, at the time the defective spool was replaced on the machine by Ward, that it was defective and liable to cause her injury, but that she had protested so vehemently against the placing of the defective spool back on the machine that Ward warned her that if she took the spool
The plaintiff alleges, as already set out, that the defendant failed to exercise- ordinary care in furnishing her with safe and suitable appliances, and was negligent in supplying her with defective appliances, with which she was to do the work she was employed to do. This allegation was not sustained by the evidence, which disclosed that the defendant kept a stock or number of spools necessary for her work, which were easily accessible to the plaintiff at the point where she was required to work. The master was not required to do more. It was the duty of the servant to substitute a perfect 'appliance, under such circumstances, whenever one actually in use appeared to her to be worn ou-t or defective; and the splintering of a spool resulting from usage (which, so far as the evidence discloses or so far as is alleged in the petition, may have been originally perfect) was apparently to be expected and was one of the hazards of the business undertaken by the plaintiff when she engaged herself
The fact that the duty of inspecting the appliances rests generally upon the master can not, of course, avail the servant to whom a particular duty of inspection is delegated, where that servant is injured by a defect which she negligently fails to discover. Dartmouth Spinning Co. v. Achord, 84 Ga. 14 (10 S. E. 449, 6 L. R. A. 190). The plaintiff said: “I have the box to pick out the spool I want to put on there; it is my business.” And again: “I knew I had to watch out for splinters. It was my business to watch out for splinters.” It was clearly her duty to inspect the spools used by her, and if her faulty inspection failed to reveal defects, she herself would alone be responsible for the resulting injury to her. She admits, however, that she discovered the defects in this spool, was well aware of the dangers which might follow its use, and protested, to the point of tears, against the action of Ward in again placing the defective spool on the machine after she had removed it there
Again, the allegation that the defendant was negligent in failing to warn the plaintiff of the dangerous condition and the qualities of the spool, is not supported by the evidence, since from the testimony of the plaintiff she appears to have herself'first discovered the defective condition of the spool, and of course there was no duty upon the master to warn her of the extent of a danger with which she was already acquainted, and which she says she fully understood. See Commercial Guano Co. v. Neather, 114 Ga. 416 (40 S. E. 299); Crown Cotton Mills v. McNally, 123 Ga. 35 (51 S. E. 13); Elliott v. Tifton Mill & Gin Co., 12 Ga. App. 498 (77 S. E. 667); Holton v. Hebard Cypress Co., 13 Ga. App. 273 (79 S. E. 85). It is perfectly clear, from the evidence of the plaintiff, that she had equal means with the defendant of knowing the danger which might result from the use of the defective spool. She alleges in her petition that the defect was patent to the master, and states, as a reason for her failure to know of the condition of the spool at the time of the injury, that the machinery was in motion, but her evidence shows that the spool was placed on the machine in her presence and over her protest and despite her tears; that she had observed the splinters on the spool and had rejected it, and knew that Ward intended to place it back on the machine, as he picked it up for that purpose and told her that unless she continued to use it she would lose her employment. In her testimony there is nothing to indicate that she did not know at the time the injury was inflicted that the spool was on the machine, as the machine was immediately before her and the defect in the spool was plainly visible to the eye, and her opportunities of knowing must have been equal to those of the master or of any one else. Daniel v. Forsyth, 106 Ga. 568 (32 S. E. 621); Western & Atlantic R. Co. v. Bradford, 113 Ga. 276 (38 S. E. 823); Stewart v. Seaboard Air-Line Railway, 115 Ga. 624 (41 S. E. 981); Ludd v. Wilkins, 118 Ga. 525 (45 S. E. 429); Banks v. Schofield’s Sons Co., 126 Ga. 667-670 (55 S. E. 939); Short v. Cherokee Manufacturing Co., 3 Ga. App. 377 (59 S. E. 1115); Central Ry. Co. v. Henderson, 6 Ga. App. 459, 462 (65 S. E. 297). Construing the plaintiff’s evidence most strongly against her, it can -not be doubted that she knew that the
2. Under the testimony of the plaintiff, it is clear to me that Ward was her fellow servant, and consequently the defendant would not be liable for injuries resulting from his acts. The evidence shows that one Plunkett was the superintendent, and the plaintiff testified: “I went to Mr. Gamble for my instructions as to how I was to work. He is the one who gave me the job.” The evidence of the plaintiff further shows that one Lonnie Green was the one who gave the spoolers instructions, and that he was “the spinning and spooling-room boss.” She testified: “Lonnie Green was the foreman in my room. He was the man who put me to work, Mr. Gamble hired me. He was the man who gave me orders. He was the man I ought to obey. Of course I had to obey him.” Will Ward did not put the plaintiff to work or give her instructions as to how to work, nor did he keep her time. The plaintiff testified: “Lonnie Green is the man who kept my ticket. He was the boss of me and the second hand” (the “second hand” referred to being Ward). Ward had no-authority to discharge the plaintiff; for she said: Lonnie Green “had authority to discharge us, and we were under his orders.” Ward had only the right (as she stated) to
To sum up in a few words, I do not think any negligence on the part of the defendant in .furnishing a defective appliance or in failing to furnish a safe and proper appliance for the use of the plaintiff in doing her work, is disclosed by the evidence; and since the injury complained of resulted from the act of a fellow servant of the plaintiff, no recovery was, in my opinion, authorized by the evidence, and therefore the court did not err in awarding the non-suit.
Lead Opinion
The evidence in behalf of the plaintiff raised an issue at least as to whether the “second hand,” or “spool boss,” was a vice-principal of the master and responsible for the injury to the plaintiff. There was evidence that one Ward represented the master in directing the work of other servants and in furnishing the appliances with which they worked. Even if Ward was not a vice-principal, there were circumstances in proof to support an inference that the master was negligent in the performance of his duty of furnishing good spools and of removing those that were defective; and from the evidence the inference is authorized that but for the master’s initial negligence in this regard, the plaintiff would not have been injured, even though the injury may have been partly due to the negligence of a fellow servant. Eor these reasons the court erred in awarding a nonsuit.
Judgment reversed.
