Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1884

Linnehan v. Rollins

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided April 1, 1884 · Field

137 Mass. 123; 1884 Mass. LEXIS 198

Cases that cite this one

37 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Madix v. Hochgreve Brewing Co. (Wis. 1913)
Pearson v. M. M. Potter Co. (Cal. Ct. App. 1909)
Keyes v. Second Baptist Church (Me. 1904)
W.H. Sawyer Lumber v. Murphy (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1981)
Burkhardt v. State (N.D. 1952)
Enga v. Sparks (Mass. 1943)
McDermott's Case (Mass. 1933)
Devlin v. Newfell (Mass. 1931)
Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. Pierce (Okla. 1928)
Henry v. Mondillo (R.I. 1928)
Wahl v. Kelly (Wis. 1928)
Bradley v. Meltzer (Mass. 1923)
Kirkhart v. United Fuel Gas Co. (W. Va. 1920)
Matter of Litts v. . Risley Lumber Co. (N.Y. 1918)
Sanford v. Keef (Tenn. 1918)
Tucker v. Cooper (Cal. 1916)
Devine v. Rosenbaum Bros. (Ill. App. Ct. 1915)
Hamill v. Territilli (Ill. App. Ct. 1915)
Cheevers's Case (Mass. 1914)
Dalrymple v. Covey Motor Car Co. (Or. 1913)
Chicago, R. I. & P. Ry. Co. v. Bennett (Okla. 1912)
Marston v. Reynolds (Mass. 1912)
St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad v. Madden (Kan. 1908)
Giacomini v. Pacific Lumber Co. (Cal. Ct. App. 1907)
Veitch v. Jenkins (Va. 1907)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Field, J.

Whether an owner of a building retains such control over work to be done and the manner of doing it as to render himself responsible for injuries occasioned by the *126negligence of a contractor and his employees in the performance of the work, depends upon the construction to be given to the contract. Erie v. Caulkins, 85 Penn. St. 247. Railroad v. Hanning, 15 Wall. 649. Eaton v. European & North American Railway, 59 Maine, 520. Cincinnati v. Stone, 5 Ohio St. 38. Newton v. Ellis, 5 El. & Bl. 115. Blake v. Thirst, 2 H. & C. 20.

In this case, for the reasons given in the instructions, we think the defendants are liable for injuries occasioned by the negligence of Elston and his employees in doing the work which the defendants requested Elston to do. Railroad v. Hanning, ubi supra. Clapp v. Kemp, 122 Mass. 481. Brackett v. Lubke, 4 Allen, 138. Brooks v. Somerville, 106 Mass. 271. Forsyth v. Hooper, 11 Allen, 419. Kimball v. Cushman, 103 Mass. 194.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.