Gray v. Fitzgerald & Platt, Inc.
Gray v. Fitzgerald & Platt, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff brought this action for personal injuries claimed to have been caused by
From the memorandum of decision, it appears that judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the verdict was rendered because “the jury either failed to comprehend the court’s instructions, or mistakenly applied the legal principles, or disregarded the instructions, or . . . were swayed by sympathy for the plaintiff, or . . . because of a combination of these reasons . . . returned a liberal verdict in the plaintiff’s favor. The verdict, in the opinion of the court, is not a just one, and is against the law and the evidence, and from a present viewpoint a directed verdict for the defendant should have been ordered.”
The question presented is whether there was offered evidence upon which reasonable persons could have reached the conclusion that the plaintiff’s injury was caused by the defendant’s breach of duty. Robinson v. Southern New England Telephone Co., 140 Conn. 414, 415, 101 A.2d 491. Reference to the complaint indicates that the plaintiff was not relying upon a breach of duty in polishing the floor. Smith v. Union & New Haven Trust Co., 121 Conn. 369, 185 A. 81. Rather the case proceeded on the theory that the floor was in a slippery and unsafe condition at the time the plaintiff fell. The claim is made that this takes the case out of the holding in the Smith case, supra. That case is clearly distinguishable. In the present case, the specification of
There is error, the judgment is set aside and the case is remanded with direction to render judgment for the plaintiff on the verdict.
In this opinion Inglis, C. J., O’SuuurvAir and Daly, Js., concurred.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I disagree. This case was pleaded and tried on the theory that the defendant was negligent in maintaining a defective floor of whose condition it had constructive notice. The trial court was correct in setting aside the verdict for the plaintiff because there was no evidence from which the jury could reasonably find notice. O’Brien v. H. L. Green Co., 128 Conn. 68, 69, 20 A.2d 411; Edwards v. F. W. Woolworth Co., 129 Conn. 245,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gertrude M. Gray v. Fitzgerald and Platt, Inc.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published