O'Doherty v. Catonsville Plumbing & Heating Co.

The O’Dohertys owned a three-story frame house of fin de siécle vintage in the Baltimore suburb of Catonsville. In November 1966 the appellee was summoned to unstop a bathtub drain. After earlier false starts Smith and Lincoln, employees of the appellee, turned up at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, 26 November, to deal once more with the problem. They gained access to the drain by removing a panel in the wall of an adjoining bedroom, known as “Grandma’s room.” Using a flashlight they could see the tub resting between two heavy (4" x 8") timbers. By getting down on his “hands and knees with * * * [his]…