Ahern v. Hildreth
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort by a chambermaid employed by the defendant at the Hotel Velvet at Old Orchard Beach in the State of Maine, for injuries from falling through the glass bottom óf a light shaft, set in the floor of a hallway, across which the plaintiff attempted to walk when ordered by the defendant’s housekeeper to bring an artificial potted plant which was on the other side of it". Writ dated November 16, 1899. At the trial in the Superior Court before Mason, C. J., it appeared, that…
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Tort by a chambermaid employed by the defendant at the Hotel Velvet at Old Orchard Beach in the State of Maine, for injuries from falling through the glass bottom óf a light shaft, set in the floor of a hallway, across which the plaintiff attempted to walk when ordered by the defendant’s housekeeper to bring an artificial potted plant which was on the other side of it". Writ dated November 16, 1899. At the trial in the Superior Court before Mason, C. J., it appeared, that the floor on which the accident occurred was one flight above the street and that the glass inserted in the floor served…
1Opinion of the CourtHammond, J.
The enclosure into which the plaintiff stepped was no part of the floor of the hotel, and that fact was clearly indicated by the glass and the railing taken in connection with the other circumstances. The defendant had no reason to expect that any person would go into the enclosure, except possibly the house man, whose duty it was to keep the glass clean so that the light might shine clearly through it, and who knew enough to step only upon the girders. The failure of the defendant, therefore, to have the glass strong enough to support a person walking upon it was not negligence as against…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Moody v. Hamilton Manufacturing Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
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