Smith v. Georgia Pacific Corp.

Dean E. Smith is the plaintiff in a suit brought under the Structural Work Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 48, par. 60 et seq.) in the Circuit Court of Peoria County. The suit was tried before a jury which became deadlocked in its deliberations. Some months later the trial court, having reserved ruling on defendants’ motions for directed verdict at the close of the evidence, decided those motions against the plaintiff. Plaintiff appeals the trial court’s belated order directing the verdict.

One of the defendants herein, Waste Management, Inc., had entered into a contract to purchase a warehouse…