Magnuson v. City of Bainbridge
Magnuson v. City of Bainbridge
Opinion of the Court
Magnuson brought suit against the City of Bainbridge, alleging, substantially, that on September 17, 1917, he was engaged in working upon the top of a certain elevator in the Bainbridge Hospital at the instance of the Bainbridge Hospital; that the elevator was operated by electricity with an electric motor inside of said building, and received the current of electricity through and by a transformer placed on a pole outside the building; that the electricity and the transformer were owned by the City of Bainbridge, and the city furnished the electricity over its wires and through said transformer for pay; that he was working for the Otis Elevator Company, and for them was engaged in installing said elevator, and connecting the same for operation with the motor of said building for the owners thereof, and while so engaged he had previous to said date connected said motor with the current of electricity from the transformer that was installed by said city, and had been running said elevator so connected; that on said day it was necessary for petitioner to be on top of said elevator to complete the work of installing the same, by placing switches in the wire and pipe; that the City of Bainbridge on said date, by its agent and representative, Gibson, as employee of the city, made a change in said transformer on said pole on said street, and, while petitioner was engaged on the top of said elevator as aforesaid, notified him that said transformer was all right; that while the first transformer was in position and being used, said motor was connected with the same, and, by throwing on the switch or connection from said motor and said transformer, the motor would turn and move the elevator up or down as desired by the operator; that the said city, by its agents, employees, and representatives, without the knowledge of petitioner, carelessly and negligently changed said transformer reverse from the first transformer, causing the operation of the motor inside of said building to run reverse or opposite the direction it ran when connected with the first, and said agent or employee of said defendant changed the wires upon said transformer, or changed the wires leading from said transformer to the motor in said building; that the said change caused
The petition in this case, construed as it must be, shows that the City of Bainbridge furnished electricity to the Bainbridge Hospital, and furnished such electricity in the usual and ordinary way; that the city was employed only to deliver the current to the building; that the connections inside the building were made by the plaintiff; that the transformer on the outside was changed
What was the proximate cause of this injury? Does the petition show that the plaintiff was lacking in ordinary care ? Doesn’t the petition show that the plaintiff was notified of the change of transformers on the outside of the building ? What did the plaintiff do after having notice that the transformer was changed? Did he do anything to see if his motor was running backward or forward, which motion it got by reason of his connection, before placing himself in a perilous position? We-are of the opinion that the injury to this plaintiff was not caused by the negligence of the City of Bainbridge in furnishing electricity to the building in which he was working. See Civil Code (1910), § 4426; 9 B. C. L. 1204. Notice to the plaintiff of the change of transformers was such diligence as was necessary to put him on notice, that he might observe for himself the effect of the electricity on his motor operating the elevator; especially is this true when it is not shown that the city even knew that the motor had yet been connected with the electric wire, and if it had been, how it was connected or in what way it operated the motor, or in what way the plaintiff wished it to operate the motor, whether a turn of the switch on the motor to the right would cause to motor to revolve right or left. See Denson v. Ga. Ry. & Electric Co., 135 Ga. 133 (68 S. E. 1113).
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.