Denton v. Morgan

Headnote

Denton v. Morgan, 166 App. Div. 117 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment, entered February 23, 1915, upon an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, reversing a judgment in favor of plaintiff, entered upon a verdict and directing a dismissal of the complaint in an action to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the negligence of defendant. The complaint alleged that defendant sent one of its wagons to pick up a piece of machinery for shipment; that, the machinery being too heavy for the men sent with the wagon to handle, the driver requested the plaintiff,

an employee of the consignee, and several others to assist; that while plaintiff and the others at the request of the driver were assisting the expressmen in loading the crate upon defendant’s express wagon, a link in the chain which supported the tailboard of the wagon broke and caused the crate to fall and strike plaintiff, breaking his jaw; that there was a defect in the chain which caused the link to break. The question was whether the plaintiff was an “ emergency employee ” of the defendant. The Appellate Division held the case to be one in which the shipper and express company united in loading the wagon and making the shipment and hence the employment was not by the express company.