Wells v. Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Appeal by the defendant, Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Company, from a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the plaintiff, entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Queens on the 9th day of December, 1910, upon the verdict of a jury'for $8,000, and also from an order entered in said clerk’s office on the 16th day of December, 191-0, denying the defendant’s motion for a new trial made upon the minutes.
1Opinion of the Court
Burr, J.:
The. judgment and the order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial must be reversed. The accident from which plaintiff’s injuries resulted was due to an attempt to raise a heavy timber with insufficient appliances; but under the circumstances here disclosed the master is not responsible. At common law, when a master has furnished sufficient and suitable appliances for the prosecution of the work, and, instead of making use of these, a foreman directs the laborers engaged therein to use other appliances, which are unfit and dangerous, the act of the foreman is but a detail in the…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Vogel v. . American Bridge Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1905
- Kern v. DeCastro & Donner Sugar Refining Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1890
- Kiernan v. PerchaAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1909
- Desmond v. Foundation Co.Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1911