Baldwin v. Pisacreta
Baldwin v. Pisacreta
Opinion of the Court
This is an action in two counts by which the plaintiff seeks to recover damages for a personal injury sustained by him while working in the employ of the defendant on May 4, 1967. Both counts allege that the defendant was not a subscriber under the Workmen’s Compensation Act at the time of the injury complained of; count 1 alleges that the plaintiff was injured by reason of the defendant’s negligence; count 2 alleges that at the time of the injury the plaintiff was engaged in “hazardous employment” as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industries. See G. L. c. 152, §§ 1 (4) (c) (as appearing in St. 1960, c. 306), 25A (as appearing in St. 1955, c. 174, § 3), 66 (4) (as appearing in St. 1959, c. 478), and 67, second paragraph (as appearing in St. 1943, c. 529, § 10); Maciejewski v. Graton & Knight Co. 321 Mass. 165, 165-166 (1947); Fisher v. Ciaramitaro, 345 Mass. 199, 201-202 (1962). The plaintiff has appealed from the action of the judge in entering judgment for the defendant on both counts pursuant to the provisions of Mass.R.Civ.P. 50 (b), 365 Mass. 814 (1974). 1. Assuming that the hand mower supplied by the defendant repeatedly stuck in the wet grass and that the defendant was aware of that fact, still it could not properly have been found that the mower was defective; on the evidence there was no duty on the defendant to warn the plaintiff of the open and obvious danger of slipping on the wet grass and falling off the top of the retaining wall at the foot of the sloping lawn. The disposition of count 1 is governed in principle by such cases as Starr v. Chafitz, 317 Mass. 227, 230 (1944), and Maciejewski v. Graton & Knight Co. supra, at 169-170, rather than by such cases as Berube v. Horton, 199 Mass. 421, 425 (1908), and Reidy v. Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, 318 Mass. 135, 137-138 (1945). 2. It is clear from the face of the determination made by the Commissioner
Judgments notwithstanding the verdicts affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.