Ferris v. Monsanto Co.

John Ferris, twenty-six years old, employed as a painter by a subcontractor at Monsanto Company’s Springfield plant, died of asphixiation through the discharge of nitrogen into a pipe connected to his air hood. This was an action for “wrongful death” (G. L. c. 229, § 2) by Ferris’s widow, administratrix of his estate, against Monsanto, charging it with breach of its duty to exercise reasonable care with some emphasis on alleged failure to give adequate warning of danger.1 Monsanto impleaded Ley Con*695struction Company, the general contractor at the plant. After trial, a jury returned a special…