Malech v. Cudahy Packing Co.
Malech v. Cudahy Packing Co.
Opinion of the Court
The only grounds of negligence submitted to the jury were the following:
That the plaintiff was, and is, unable to speak or understand the English language; that he had never worked with or operated such a machine, or one of similar character before that time, and was wholly and entirely unacquainted with the same or its construction, operation, or workings, and did not know or appreciate any of the dangers incident thereto, and that he was in no manner instructed by the defendant with reference to the same, or warned of the dangers incident to the operation thereof. That after working and operating said machine for a few minutes the same was stopped by reason of being clogged by a piece of skin or some other obstruction, and it became the duty of the plaintiff to remove said obstruction from the knife, and that while engaged in so doing, and without any fault or negligence on the part of the plaintiff, his hand was caught in said machinery, and the first two joints of the little and fourth fingers, and the first joint of the middle finger of his right hand, were cut off, and the hand twisted and stiffened, and rendered out of shape. That said injuries were caused by the carelessness and negligence of the defendant in directing and requiring the plaintiff, who was then and there inexperienced in the operation of such machines, to work with and operate the same, without first instructing him as, to the construction and operation thereof, and warning him of the dangers incident thereto, and that the plaintiff did not, by any negligence or want of ordinary care on his part, directly contribute to produce said injuries.
In defense defendant pleaded that plaintiff was a mere volunteer, and was not ordered to work about the machine; that he was himself guilty of negligence contributing to his injury; and that he assumed the risk incident to work about the machine. On these issues and
This machine has three or four knives that cut the fat into strips, and only one knife that takes the skin off. . . . And that knife that takes the skin off is right flat down on the table of the machine? A. Well, the opening where they put the meat in there, that fits right through the knife, and it is pretty hard to notice the knife. It is just a little ways out, so it is pretty hard to notice there is a knife there. There is a drum of the machine that rolls around, and the knife on the table of the machine is on the under side, and it is pretty hard to notice it. . . . Q. Now, when this fat is pulled underneath these round knives, what does it go against to take the fat off of the skin? A. Well, first the meat catches some of the hooks, and when it turns around a little it comes in contact with about three or four knives, and when it comes to the last knife it takes the skin off. . . . Q. When it is taking the skin off, the knife is between the fat and the skin, isn’t it? A. Yes. Q. The fat runs on top of the knife, doesn’t it? A. Yes; the fat is top, and the skin comes under the knife, underneath. Q. When there is no fat' there, the knife is not covered up ? A. No. ... I know how the pieces of fat are fed into the machine. There are teeth that cut the pieces there when they are put in, and then there is some kind of a roller there that rolls it over, and a knife that cuts the meat in slices, and the meat goes over
The only time I examined the machine since the accident, and looked around to see how its different parts are, was this morning, "When I went down with my lawyer to the packing house, and we examined the machine together. It was then pointed out where the knife is that takes the skin from the fat, and did not know that there was a knife there until we were down this morning, and it was shown me. This morning I was also shown that in this drum that rolls around there is a sort of a hole that has some teeth in it. I had never seen that hole during the time I was working there the day I got hurt,' as I did not have any time to notice it. This morning I saw an opening in the solid drum that has some teeth in it. .(It is conceded that the opening is four and one-half inches.) . . . I went to the packing house with the plaintiff and Mr. Fribourg this morning and examined the back-fat machine. We were there about three-quarters of an hour, and made careful examination of what is called the knife that separates the skin from the fat. This knife is about the thickness of a sheet of paper or fingernail from the drum. It looks 1-ike a flat piece of iron. There is small bevel on it. It lays right flat on the machine. I noticed a hole in the drum, at about the center. T should judge it was about four and one-half or five inches each way. This hole had something like fingers or teeth in it. . . . The way I noticed that hole in the drum it stopped towards the knife, and I could see the hole between the knife and the drum. When it was running, it went so fast I could not' see the hole until it stopped. I could see there was something that separated the fat from the skin. I know that it was some sharp thing to separate it, but I didn’t know what it was. I could not really tell where the thing was located. When the machine was running without any fat, I could see this piece of steel across there. . . .
The back-fat machine has a lever overhead to start and stop it, and a loose pulley with a belt on it. There is a sprocket chain or chain belt that runs the machine. In front of the machine is a small table, about level with it. The back fat is put on this table, and when the claws
If this be an inadequate description of the apparatus, it is no fault of ours, for it is all that appears in the record. That plaintiff, an inexperienced man, was put to work .upon this machine without any instructions or warnings is so well established that defendant’s counsel do not now challenge the finding of the jury in this respect, and that a jury might rightly have found that -he should have been warned and instructed is also practically conceded.
Appellant has filed a motion to strike appellee’s abstract, or, in the event this be not done, that the cost of the printing thereof be taxed to appellee. We are of opinion that the motion to strike should not be sustained, but
The judgment must be, and it is, affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sheray Malech v. Cudahy Packing Company
- Status
- Published