Gardner v. Boston Gas Co.

The plaintiffs seek to recover from the gas company (the company) for fire damage in a duplex house in Clinton allegedly caused by the company’s negligence. After the denial of motions for directed verdicts, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs in an amount stipulated by the parties. The judge then granted the company’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict under Mass.R.Civ.P. 50(b), 365 Mass. 814-815 (1974).

The damage was most severe in the vicinity of a gas stove in the living room of the house. The stove was about “eight or ten inches,” or even “twelve inches,” away…