McClintic-Marshall Const. Co. v. Forgy
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). It is conceded, and is indisputable, that the injury and death of Forgy was no evidence of the causal negligence of the construction company. It is conceded, and is indisputable, that Boone, the foreman, Forgy, the engineer, Reed and Jeffress, who worked with crane No. 15, Springer, the foreman, Lewis, the engineer, and Knowland and Garzee, who worked with crane No. 17, were fellow servants, and that the company is not liable on account of any negligence of any of them which caused or contributed to the injury or death of Forgy.
The burden was therefore upon the plaintiff below to prove by substantial evidence that the defendant was guilty of negligence which contributed to cause the injury and that such contributing negligence of the company was the proximate cause of the injury and death. The concurring negligence of others cannot transform a remote cause, or no cause, into a.proximate cause. And where, at the close of the trial, there is no substantial evidence that the negligence of the defendant was the proximate cause of the injury, it is the duty of the court to instruct the jury to return a verdict for the defendant notwithstanding the fact that the negligence of others contributed to cause it. Cole v. German Savings & Roan Society, 124 Fed. 113, 116, 117, 59 C. C. A. 593, 596, 597, 63 L. R. A. 416; Atchison, Topeka & S. F. R. Co. v. Calhoun, 213 U. S. 1, 9, 10, 29 Sup. Ct. 321, 53 L. Ed. 671.
The only negligence of which it is claimed that the construction company was guilty was that it failed to give Forgy suitable warning that Springer was immediately coming with crane No. 17 to take crane No. 15 from the house track to the river, a distance of one-eighth to one-fourth of a mile, to enable the workmen to wash out the boiler. In the opinion of the majority this negligence consisted in a failure (1) “to give specific directions that the car upon which Forgy was working should not be disturbed without warning him,” and a failure (2) “to have placed some warning upon the car to draw the attention of workmen clearly to the fact that it was undergoing repairs.” As careful a perusal and analysis of the evidence in this case as it is possible for me to make has forced my mind to the conclusion that there was no substantial evidence of any causal negligence of tire construction company before the jury at the close of the trial, and that the evidence is conclusive that if there was any causal negligence proved it was that of the deceased or his fellow servants.
It is indisputable that, if these facts were established without substantial evidence to the contrary, the failure “to give specific directions that the car upon which Forgy was working should not be disturbed without warning him” could not have caused or directly contributed to cause his injury, because the warning actually given him superseded and made ineffective and immaterial instructions to warn and the absence of such instruction alike. He could not have been injured by a failure to warn him of what he had just been told and knew. And it is equally evident that the failure to place “some warning upon the car to draw the attention of workmen clearly to the fact that it was undergoing repair” could not have caused or directly contributed to cause the injury, because the testimony is positive and uncontradicted that Springer and the men on crane No. 17 knew that crane No. 15 and the three cars near it were placed on the house track in the morning of the day of the accident in order that crane No. 15 might be repaired, that they knew Forgy was repairing it there that day, that they knew as they went up there in the afternoon that they were going to take crane No. 15 from the track on which it was stationed, down to the river, and that as they went north, past the switch track which led into the house track in order to back in for the cars at No. 15, Springer and one of his crew saw Forgy sitting on the top of his cab with his feet down in the place whence the smokestack had been removed, and he turned, saw them, and grinned. This knowledge of Springer, and the men on No. 17 who backed into the three dead cars and pushed them against Forgy and No. 15, superseded and made ineffective and immaterial the presence or absence of “some warning upon the car to draw the attention of the workmen clearly to the fact that it was undergoing repairs.” No such warning could have given them more complete knowledge of the material facts than they already had, and Forgy had just received through his notice of their coming.
Therefore the determining question is: Was the fact that Forgy was clearly notified of the coming of Springer and crane No. 17 to take his crane from the house track established by uncontradicted evidence, or was there substantial evidence that such notice was not given? To appreciate the testimony on this subject the nature and chronological order of the work which was being done that day must be in mind.
It is said.in the opinion of the majority that Reed testified that he did not see Gallinot any place around No. 15 crane during the progress of repairs that Forgy was making that day. But Reed also testified that he was not at or near the crane from shortly after dinner when he, Jeffress, and Boone finished removing the headblock until about five minutes before the accident, that they had been doing something down to the river during that time, and Gallinot and Marshall testified that it was during that time that they were at the crane with Forgy and notified him that Springer was coming with his crane to get crane No. 15 and that he (Forgy) must watch out for him. There was therefore nothing in the testimony of Reed in conflict or inconsistent with the testimony of Gallinot and Marshall that they gave Forgy notice of Springer’s coming just before he started to get crane No. 15.
It is said in the opinion of the majority that Springer testified that Childers, the superintendent in charge of the work, rather than Gal-linot, gave the directions to him to go after crane No. 15, that Childers had given the instructions repeatedly, and both he and Springer testified that considerable feeling had been developed because of Springer’s failure to obey these instructions, and it is also said in the opinion that Childers was afterwards fully examined as a witness and “did not explain this conflict.” But there was no conflict. Gallinot testified that he directed Springer to take his crane No. 17 and go up and get crane No. 15 and take it down to the river. Springer testified that Gallinot and Childers both directed him to do so at the same time,
“Q. What did Mr. Gallinot tell you when he was talking to you about it? A. He told me to get it down there so he could wash the boiler and put the flues in that night and we could work it the next day. * * * Q. And it was about 4 o’clock when Mr. Childers and Mr. Gallinot told you to go right down and get that crane and bring it down? A. Yes sir.”
Thus it appears that there was no feature of conflict between the testimony of Gallinot and Springer, and that there was nothing there inconsistent with the uncontradicted testimony of Gallinot and Marshall that they notified Forgy just before the accident that Springer was coming to take his crane and that he must watch for him.
In the opinion of the majority it is said that:
“Another feature of conflict is that Marshall, a witness much relied on by the defense, testified that Gallinot worked, with him and Porgy in taking out the flues; that Gallinot did the work at the bottom end of the flues. Galli-not’s testimony, on the other hand, clearly indicates that he had nothing to do with the removal of the flues.”
But (1) the fact that Gallinot did or did not have anything to do with the removal of the flues in no manner tends to conflict with the testimony of Gallinot and Marshall that they notified Forgy that Springer was coming with crane No. 17 to take him and No. 15 to the river just, before Springer started and just after he started, and therefore it is immaterial; and (2) when all the testimony of Marshall and Gallinot on the subject of the latter’s work is considered there is no conflict between them. Marshall testified, as we have seen, that he and Forgy worked under the direction of Gallinot, that after he and Forgy finished removing the flues Gallinot examined the sheets, one of which was at the top and the other at the bottom of the boiler, to see whether they had cut them with their chisels, and that he then notified Forgy that he would go and send Springer and No. 17 to come and get No. 15, that he immediately did so, and Springer came right up and attached his crane to the three dead cars. The only other testimony of Marshall on the subject of the doing of the work of repair was that Gallinot sent him up to help Forgy remove the tubes, about 11:30, and:
“Q. About wbat part of tbe crane did you go? A. On top of the cab. To get to the boiler you have to go in where the smokestack sets. Q. Either on top of the boiler or inside? A. That is where Mr. Porgy and I worked. Mr. Gallinot had to come through the fire box to get inside. Q. The work you and Mr. Porgy were doing required you to be, as I understand it, either in the cab or on top of the cab? A. Yes, sir. * * * Q. Go ahead and tell what you heard Mr. Gallinot say to Mr. Porgy. A. Mr. Gallinot when we finished down in the boiler came up on top where we fellows was working, just after we finished. * * * Q. Now you were working there with Jack on this crane, you say? A. Yes, sir. Q. Helping him take out these flues, is that right? A. Jack and I were both taking them out; yes, sir. Q. And you were assistant master mechanic? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were there doing the work of a laborer, is that right? A. No, sir. Q. That is not right? A. No, sir; I didn’t say that. Q. Well, I understood you to say you were helping him take these flues out. A. Jack and I were taking out flues together. * * * Q. Well, what tools — where were the tools, where did you put them after you got through with them? A. The tools Mr, Gallinot had — Mr.*205 Gallinot worked in the bottom of the boiler. Q. Tes. A. And the tools he had, he left them in the ash pan.”
This is all the testimony of Marshall as to the work Gallinot did on the crane. Gallinot testified:
“Q. Then after you got the crane up there on the track there under the bridge, the one we have called here the house track, who helped about that repair work? A. On the tubes Mr. Marshall, Tom Marshall helped Mr. Forgy. Q. Two of them worked on it, did they, that day? A. Two of them; both of them worked on the boiler or on the tubes, taking the tubes out. • • • Q. What did Mr. Forgy and Mr. Marshall do on that crane that day in the way of repairs? A. They cut these tubes out, cut them out and took the number of tubes that there was to be taken out, and then got this crane ready to go down to the river to have this boiler washed out before we put the new ones in.”
This is all the testimony of Gallinot as to the work he did on the crane, except that he testified, as we have seen, that after Marshall and Forgy had finished their work of removing the tubes he examined the boiler to see that the sheets were not cut. Gallinot’s testimony discloses his presence at the crane during the progress of the work and at and after its conclusion. In examining the sheets of the boiler it was necessary for him to go to and to examine the bottom sheet, and both witnesses testify that he made the examination. There is nothing in Marshall’s testimony inconsistent with the theory that this was all he did at the bottom of the boiler, and there is nothing in Gallinot’s testimony inconsistent with the theory that hfe also worked at the bottom of the boiler in taking out the tubes, the ash pan, the grates, or other parts it was necessary to remove. And so .it is that when all their testimony is considered there is no conflict in the evidence of these witnesses upon this subject.
It is said in the opinion of the majority that:
“Gallinot and Marshall testified that the work of taking out the flues had been fully completed, something like an hour before the accident. Reed, on the contrary, testified that Forgy, at the time of his death, was actually working on the flues, and all the circumstances go to support Reed’s testimony.”
It is true that, after testifying that at-the time of the accident he was about 15 feet south of the east end of crane 15, Reed testified on his direct examination in this way:
“Q. What was Mr. Forgy doing? A. He was taking flues out of No. 15 boiler. Q. How do you know he was taking flues out of the boiler? A. Because X saw him taking them out, working there with a hammer and chisel, and I was talking to him. Q. Now, how long beforehis death were you talking to him? A. About five minutes.”
But upon further examination he testified:
“Q. You were standing 15 feet south of the east end of the crane? A. About 15 feet. Q. Of the east end of the crane that Jack Forgy had been working on that morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was Forgy doing on that crane? A. He had been taking out flues, he told me. Q. Taking out flues? And he had gotten those flues all out, hadn’t he? A. I don’t know whether ho had or not. Q. Weil, do you know whether he had or hadn’t? A. No, sir. Q. Well, to the best of your knowledge he had them all out, hadn’t he? The last hour before the time this accident happened, he hadn’t taken any flues out, had he? A. I don’t know, because 1 was not there. * * * Q. Then*206 where did you last see Jack Forgy just before the accident occurred? A. Sitting on top the cab with bis feet down in tbe stack and I was talking to him. Q. And that is the last time you saw him, isn’t it? A. That is the last time until X saw him in between the cars. Q. You didn’t see him come down from the crane? A. río. Q. You didn’t see him move from that position at all? A. No, sir; I turned and went after a piece of cable.”
Thus Reed’s testimony that when he talked with Forgy five minutes before his death the latter was taking flues out of No. 15 with a hammer and chisel was proved by his own testimony to be untrue. For he subsequently testified that he did not know whether or not the flues had all been taken out before that time, because he had not been there since just after dinner, and if he did not’ know that there were any flues in the boiler to be taken out he could not have known that Forgy was working, taking them out. Moreover, Reed subsequently testified, not that Forgy was taking out tubes, when he last talked with him five minutes before the accident, but that he was sitting on the top of the cab with his feet down in the place for the smokestack, where, Marshall testified, he was sitting in idleness when he.left him a few moments before to go after the hose, and where, Springer testified, he was sitting when he went north to back into the house track to get him. Reed also subsequently testified that, although there was a hammer and chisel by the ash pan, Forgy did not have them in his hands at the time of the accident, and he did not know whether or not Forgy took them down there, and Marshall testified that Gallinot’s hammer and chisel were left in the ash pan. So it is that this testimony of Reed, when it is all taken together; is far from sufficient to create a conflict with the positive testimony of Gallinot and Marshall that the removal of the tubes, and all repair work that Forgy and Marshall had to do before the crane was taken to the river, was completed before the notice and the accident, and that they gave Forgy notice of the coming of Springer after the completion and just before the accident.
Nor do all the circumstances, or any of them, appear to me to support the first and mistaken statement of Reed that Forgy was taking out the tubes when he was injured, or five minutes before. Gallinot and Marshall testify that the tubes that were to be removed had all been removed before Gallinot notified Forgy of Springer’s coming and left Forgy to go to tell Springer to come. The object of placing No. 15 on the house track was to have these tubes removed there before tire boiler was taken to the river to be washed out. Gallinot ordered Springer to remove it to the river to enable him to wash the boiler out, and Springer had started to do so when the accident happened, and it is not probable that any such action would have been taken before the removal of the leaky flues was completed. Marshall testified that the tubes were removed, the notice given Forgy, and the latter was sitting on the top of the cab in idleness with his feet down in the place for the smokestack when he left him, which must have been a few moments before Reed, Boone, and Jeffress came back from their work down by the river, and Springer and Reed testified that he was still sitting there on-the top of the cab five minutes before the accident when Reed last talked to him, and that Springer was going north to back in for him at that time-. And Jeffress", who worked with Reed and Boone, tes
A careful reading of all the testimony, and this review of all the evidence in the record relative to timely notice to Forgy that Springer was coming forthwith to take out his crane and to watch for him, seem to me to demonstrate the fact that there was no substantial evidence in conflict with the testimony of Gallinot and Marshall that all the work of removing the tubes and all the repairs of crane No. IS that Forgy had to do on the house track had been completed before he (Gallinot) gave him the notice, that thereupon Gallinot notified him, in the presence of Marshall, that he would go down where Springer was, a distance of an eighth to a quarter of a mile, and direct him to come right up with his crane and take Forgy and his crane to the river, that he (Forgy) should watch out for Springer, that Gallinot immediately went to Springer and asked him to go up and get Forgy and his crane, and he (Springer) went forthwith, coupled onto the three dead cars east of No. 15, and the accident occurred. And because the uncontradicted evidence proved that Forgy was warned and knew of the immediate coming of Springer and his crane, and Springer and his crew knew that Forgy was on crane No. 15, and in this state of the case no alleged negligence of the company in failing to give warnings of that which these men knew could have been the proximate cause of Forgy’s injury, I ^m unable to resist the conclusion that the court below should have directed a verdict for the company.
2. There is another reason why such a verdict should have been directed. The uncontradicted evidence is, as it seems to me, that Forgy was notified and knew of the coming of Springer when the latter started from his place by the river, that he was sitting on the top of his cab with his feet in the place of the smokestack when Marshall left him there alone and told him Springer had started after him, that a few minutes later, five minutes before the accident, as Springer came up past the curve, he was still sitting there as Reed and Springer tes - tified, that he turned towards Springer and grinned, that three minutes later, within a short time, one or two minutes before the accident, Jefifress found him inside the cab in the door, that from one step to the side of the crane car his vision of Springer’s train coming in on his track was unobstructed, and yet he went down upon the track between the cars and was injured. In my opinion this evidence conclusively proves contributory negligence on his part, and for that reason the company was entitled to a peremptory instruction in its favor.
If either of the conclusions which have been stated are correct, they dispose of this case, and the discussion and decision of other questions of fact or law herein are and will be obiter dicta, as I think they must be. But I do not wish by silence to seem to assent to the views concerning them expressed by the majority. They hold that “the rule in force on nearly all railroads in the United States for many years re
Now, the question here is, not whether or not there can be found in the text-books or judicial opinions statements of facts which, if they had been proved in the court below, would have established the negligence of the defendant, but it is whether or not at the close of the trial when no one connected with the trial had proved such a rule, and the proof was plenary and undisputed that no such custom existed among construction, companies, there was substantial evidence of the defendant’s negligence. In view of the state of the record at the close of the trial, I cannot agree with the view that it is permissible for this court to import from text-books and opinions in other cases where other witnesses testified a rule prevailing among railroad companies not presented or proved in this cáse, and which the defendant had no chance to disprove, and then convict it of negligence for violating that rule. Moreover, if such a rule did in fact exist on railroads,
For the reason last stated, it was, in my opinion, likewise immaterial whether or not general rules or undisclosed precautionary methods, such as are referred to in the concurring opinion of Judge Hook, were adopted by the defendant. Their absence could not have been the cause of the injury or the death, because all the employés related to it had full notice dnd knowledge of everything such rules and methods could have brought to their attention.
Again, “The principle invoked, however, extends only to services of a complicated and dangerous character, requiring skill or experience. The details, even of dangerous business, and simple tasks as a whole, may be rightfully left to the common sense of the workmen.” Wood v. Potlatch Lumber Co., 213 Fed. 591, 594, 130 C. C. A. 171, 174.
Finally, I am of the opinion that the .rule that the duty of the employer is one oí construction and provision, and the duty of the em-ployés is one of operation and protection from negligent use, is applicable to this case, and that under it the negligence which caused the injury Was conclusively proved to have been that of Forgy and his fellow servants, that it was negligence in operation and in protection against negligent use and not in construction or provision for which the construction company was not liable. The gist of this rule was early stated by Judge, afterwards Mr. Justice, Brewer in these words:
“The true idea is that the place and the instrument * * * must be safe, for this is what the master’s duty * * * compels, and not that the master must see that no negligent handling by an employé shall’ create danger.” Howard v. Denver & Rio Grande R. R. Co. (C. C.) 26 Fed. 837.
And it has been later stated and illustrated by the Supreme Court in Kreigh v. Westinghouse & Co., 214 U. S. 249, 257, 29 Sup. Ct. 619, 53 L. Ed. 984, and by this court in American Bridge Co. v. Seeds, 144 Fed. 605, 606, 611, 612, 75 C. C. A. 407, 408, 413, 414, 11 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1041, and many other cases.
In my opinion the case of Bridge Co. v. Seeds was not, as the majority seem to think, identical with Kreigh v. Westinghouse & Co. The former was a case of an injury whose sole proximate cause was the negligence of a superior fellow servant in giving a fatal signal in the doing of the work of the employés, and this court held that his act was a negligence of operation for which the employer was not liable and that there was no substantial evidence that the employer
“The employé is not obliged to examine into the employer’s methods of transacting his business, and he may assume, in the absence of notice to the contrary, that reasonable care will be used in furnishing appliances necessary to carrying on the business. Choctaw, Oklahoma, etc., R. Co. v. McDade, 191 U. S. 64, 68 [24 Sup. Ct. 24, 48 L. Ed. 96]. But while this duty is imposed upon the master, and he cannot delegate it to another and escape liability on his part, nevertheless the master is not held responsible for injuries resulting from the place becoming unsafe through the negligence of the workmen in the manner of carrying on the work, where he (the master) has*212 discharged his primary duty of providing a reasonably safe appliance and place for his employés to carry on the work, nor is he obliged to keep the place safe at every moment, so far as such safety depends on the due performance of the work by the servant and his fellow workmen. Armour v. Hahn, 111 U. S. 313, 4 Sup. Ct. 433, 28 L. Ed. 440; Perry v. Rogers, 157 N. Y. 251 [51 N. E. 1021].”
And it was after this declaration and in reference toi this duty of construction and provision of reasonably safe appliances and place, and not with reference to liability for the operation of the work and the negligent use of this place and these appliances which might make the place, originally safe, dangerous, that this declaration cited in the opinion of the majority was made. “Where workmen are engaged in a business more or less dangerous, it is the duty of the master to exercise reasonable care for the safety of all his employés, and not to expose them to the danger of being hurt or injured by the use of a dangerous appliance or unsafe place to work, where it is only a matter of using due skill and care to1 make the place and appliances safe. There is no reason why an employé should be exposed to dangers us ■ necessary to the proper operation of the business of his employer. Choctaw, etc., R. Co. v. McDade, 191 U. S. 64, 66 [24 Sup. Ct. 24, 48 L. Ed. 96], and cases there cited.”
As there was no1 negligence of the construction company in this case in the provision of a safe place and safe appliances to enable Forgy to do. his work, and as the only causal negligence of which there is any evidence was negligence of Eorgy and his fellow servants in the use and operation of this place and these appliances, it seems to me that under the established rule of liability for negligence in provision and liability for negligence in the use or operation of place and appliances, and the plain declaration and illustration of this rule in Kreigh’s Case, the defendant should not have been held liable here, and the judgment ought to be reversed.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action to. recover damages for death by wrongful act. The plaintiff below, Elnora Forgy, widow of decedent, prevailed, and the defendant, the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company, brings error.
For the purpose of handling the bridge material, defendant had two1 locomotive crane cars, to each of which were attached three ordinary flat cars upon which material could be loaded. The cranes were themselves mounted on an ordinary eight-wheel railroad fiat car. They each weighed 86 tons, and had a capacity of 30 tons. The cars were propelled by the same engine that operated'the cranes. The cranes, together with the boiler, engine, and machinery, were mounted upon a frame which rested upon small wheels arranged in a circle. These in turn ran on a circular track on the surface of the flat car. In swinging, the crane did not have an independent motion, but the entire framework revolved about on the circular track. In other words, the crane is what is known as a “whirly.”
The boiler was upright. At the bottom was the ash pan, next the grate and fire box, above this were the flues,.and at the top were the hood and smokestack. The boiler was inclosed in a cab. It and some of the machinery was covered by a semicircular roof. The cab was nearly flush with the end of the car when the crane was pointing in the same direction as the car.
The flues are fitted into an upper and lower flue sheet. They are not only expanded so as to fit tightly into the sheets, but extend about one-eighth of an inch beyond them, and are then beaded against the sheet at each end.
These locomotive cranes were known as Nos. IS and 17. Forgy, the decedent, was engineer qn No. 15. For some time prior to the accident, the flues on his engine had been leaking. On the morning of March 28, 1911, he and another workman were directed to take out the leaking flues preparatory to installing new ones. In doing this he was directed by the superintendent to place his crane car, and the cars usually attached to it, on one of the service tracks at a point little used. The crane and the cars were run in on this track by their own power. The crane car was then uncoupled and removed about 3 or 4 feet from the flat cars, leaving the latter standing on the track to the west, the
We pause here to call attention to the fact that the flat cars were separated from the crane car at the time they were set in on the service track, thus clearly indicating that in the judgment of the men it was necessary for the workmen engaged in removing the flues to get in on the track between the flat cars and the crane car.
The removal of the flues was commenced at about 9 o’clock in the morning by Forgy and the assistant master mechanic, a man by the name of Marshall. The hood and smokestack were removed so that one workman could get down to the upper flue sheet and by means of a hammer and cold-chisel cut off the beading. There is conflict in the evidence as to how the other workmen reached the beading at the other end of the flues. On the east side of the boiler as it stood at the time, there was a door inside the cab leading to the Are box. Some of the evidence tends to show that the bottom of the flues was reached through this door. There was another door leading to the ash pan, opening on the west side of the boiler and cab. It was 18 inches long and 7 or 8 inches high. In our judgment the weight of the evidence shows that the lower beading could be most conveniently reached through this door. The ash pan and the grate had been removed, and this also confirms the evidence that at least part of the work was done through this opening. That is the usual method of reaching the bottom flue sheet of such a boiler for the purpose of removing the flues. The light is better than through the door inside the cab. All the evidence shows that the flues were driven out from below and removed through the opening left at the top by taking off the hood and smokestack.
At about 4 o’clock in the afternoon Forgy was standing on the ground at the west end of his crane car, between it and the flat cars, looking up through the ash pan door into the boiler, with his hammer and chisel in his hands. At that time crane No. 17, with its three freight cars attached, by direction of the superintendent ran in on the siding for the purpose of removing the other crane and cars to a point in the yard where the flue chambers could be cleaned out with a hose. No immediate warning was given to Forgy. No. 17, with its loaded cars, struck the three flat cars that were standing on the track, and pushed them against the other crane car. Forgy was caught between the two drawheads and killed.
Did defendant owe deceased the duty to warn him before disturbing the car on which he was working? Defendant answers that question in the negative. It offered evidence to the effect that it was not customary on jobs of this character to warn workmen of the movement of the cranes or cars; that it was the practice and duty for men to look out for themselves. This evidence was not directed to workmen engaged on the class of work that Forgy was doing. We are of the opinion that when the nature of his work is considered the company-owed him the duty of reasonable care for his protection. It was impossible for him to do his work and keep watch of the movements of engines. For all practical purposes the situation is identical with that of a workman engaged in repairing a railroad car. The rule in force
“Where workmen are engaged in a business more or less dangerous, it is the duty of the master to exercise reasonable care for the safety of all his employés, and not to expose them to the danger of being hurt or injured by the use of a dangerous appliance or unsafe place to work, where it is only a matter of using due skill and care to make the place and appliances safe. There is no reason why an employé should be exposed to dangers unnecessary to the proper operation of the business of his employer.”
That rule is based upon the simplest considerations of humanity as well as justice. The courts would be false to their trust if they did not enforce it. The duty which it imposes cannot be me.t by renunciation or by shifting the entire responsibility upon workmen to avoid injury. We are of the opinion therefore that the learned trial judge exercised a sound discretion when he left this question to the jury.
Did the defendant warn Porgy before disturbing the car? Upon that question the evidence is in hopeless conflict. It may be considered under two headings: First, there was evidence that the man in charge of crane No. 17, as he passed within about 75 yards of Porgy, called out to him, “Rook out, Big Jack, we are coming in there after you,” and that Forgy said nothing, “just turned around and grinned at me.” Springer, the man who says he gave this warning, was standing on the rear end of the flat cars attached to No. 17. On the opposite side of the car, and between him and Porgy, another witness was standing. He says he heard no such call. Another witness standing on the ground between Forgy and No. 17 says he did not hear it. It must be presumed from Forgy’s subsequent conduct that he did not hear the warning. The wind was blowing at the time 38 miles an hour from Forgy towards Springer. We are therefore forced to the conclusion, either that the warning was not given, or that Forgy did not hear it. Second, Master Mechanic Gallinot testified that he visited qrane No. 15 at about 3 o’clock and found that the work of removing the flues had been completed. He says he then told Forgy that he would go down at once and send up Springer with No.. 17 to get No. 15 and take it to a
“I told Mr. Forgy that I would go right down and have Springer come up and get the crane and to watch out lor crane No. 17; that he was coming in there after it to take it down to the river and wash the boiler out, and the three of us were standing right together on top of this boiler, and he says, ‘All right.’ And I says to Mr. Marshall, ‘You go down and get the hoso coupled up.’ After I had given Mr. Forgy and Mr. Marshall their instructions, I stepped off the crane and walked down to the track, and then told Mr. Springer that I wanted that crane gotten and brought down to the river where I could wash it, as I was to put those tubes in that night and l wanted to get that crane finished up that night.”
He further testifies that Springer promptly left to carry out his instructions.
These are some of the features in which the evidence is in conflict:
(a) Reed, a witness for the plaintiff, testified as follows in regard to Gallinot:
“Q. And did you see him around any place around No. 15 crane during the progress of repairs that Mr. Forgy was making on the day of his death? A. No, sir.”
(b) Springer testified that Childers, the superintendent in charge of the work, rather than Gallinot, gave the directions to him to go after crane No. 15; that he had given the instruction repeatedly, and both he and Springer testified that considerable feeling had been developed because of Springer’s failure to obey these instructions. Childers was afterwards fully examined as a witness, and did* not explain this conflict.
(c) Another feature of the conflict is that Marshall, a witness much relied on by the defense, testified that Gallinot worked with him and Forgy in taking out the flues; that Gallinot did the work at the bottom end of the flues. Gallinot’s testimony, on the other hand, clearly indicates that he had nothing to doi with the removal of the flues. After a most careful reading of Gallinot’s testimony, we are compelled to say that he was not a candid witness.
(d) Gallinot and Marshall testified that the work of taking out the flues had been fully completed something like an hour before the accident. Reed, on the contrary, testifies that Forgy, at the time of his death, was actually working on the flues, and all the circumstances go to support Reed’s testimony.
During the day No. 17 had been passing back and forth at frequent intervals upon the same track upon which it passed prior to the accident. A considerable time had elapsed after the alleged conversation between Forgy and Gallinot, and the passing of No. 17. For this reason Forgy might have supposed that No1. 17, on the occasion in question, instead of coming after 15, was going into the yards to get material as it had been doing on its previous trips.
In view of the conflicting state of the evidence, we think the question of the credibility of the entire body of witnesses was one for the jury, and that the trial court properly left to them the question of what, if any, warning was given to Forgy, and, if it was given, whether it was sufficient to- constitute reasonable care.
We do not think the situation was one to which the rules developed by this court in American Bridge Co. v. Seeds, 144 Fed. 605, 75 C. C. A. 407, 11 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1041, and Kreigh v. Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co., 152 Fed. 120, 81 C. C. A. 338, 11 L. R. A. (N. S.) 684, are applicable. The facts of those cases were identical, and the latter case was reversed by the Supreme Court in 214 U. S. 249, 29 Sup. Ct. 619, 53 L. Ed. 984. Just how far their authority on the question of when a risk is one of “operation and not of construction” is. impaired by the decision of the Supreme Court, is not now involved. That rule, however, is one which cannot be pressed too' far without entirely exonerating the master from his duty to exercise reasonable care to furnish a safe place and safe methods of conducting his business. It is instructive that the rule was first developed in connection with scaffolding cases, and has had its most frequent application to actions of that character. It was first announced in New York, and wás worked out by the courts of that state in great detail. What has happened to it there? As- the result of many and appalling accidents, the Regislature has abrogated the rule, and in its place made the master not only liable civilly, but also made him liable as for a felony, whenever a scaffolding or other like structure gives way as the result of imperfect material or construction. The reports of commissions which led to this legislation point out the many accidents, and also show that the construction of scaffolding and other false-work in modern building operations often involves engineering judgment, and that the risks are so great that they cannot properly be left to the judgment of carpenters concerned only with particular features of the work. Certainly a master engaged on a great enterprise like that, here involved, using agencies that are imminently dangerous to workmen, cannot say to its employes, “Here are safe railroads, safe cars, safe cranes, etc., now you use them so as not to injure each other,” and1 thus absolve itself from all liability. To lay down any such a doctrine is to completely exonerate the. employer from the
The judgment is affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
I concur in the affirmance of the judgment, but desire to emphasize a feature of the case. The building of the bridge across the Missouri river was an undertaking of considerable magnitude that naturally required different gangs of men in different, and at times conflicting, activities. The work was even more hazardous to the employés than ordinary railroading. The place where Forgy was working was in all practical respects a repair track where men are not ordinarily expected to be on the lookout for violent entrance of other cars. Otherwise the duties put upon them could not well be performed. That an enterprise of such a character may be conducted by an employer without system, orders, or rules for the protection of his workmen, particubrly those like Forgy, but that care for their safety may be left wholly to the judgment and discretion of their fellows in each emergency as it arises, does not commend itself to my judgment. It is customary in established hazard
Whether Forgy was notified is a question of fact that should not be affirmatively answered by us merely upon the testimony of a witness that happens to be without categorical contradiction. The truthfulness of his testimony should be weighed with the reasonable inferences from other facts and circumstances. The trial court with the witnesses before it thought the proofs made the question debatable, and the jury found Forgy was not notified. From the bare record here I think the finding probably right.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- McCLINTIC-MARSHALL CONST. CO. v. FORGY
- Status
- Published