Lipshitz v. Richard Fitzpatrick, Inc.

Headnote

Negligence — master and servant — when general employer of chauffeur liable for accident arising while truck was rented to another.

Lipshitz v. Fitzpatrick, Inc., 196 App. Div. 940 , affirmed.

Appeal, by permission, from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered May 4, 1921, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict in an action to recover for the death of plaintiff’s intestate alleged to have been occasioned through the negligence of defendant. The deceased was struck and killed by a motor truck. The evidence in support of the plaintiff’s cause of action is to the effect that the deceased was standing on the sidewalk when she was struck and thrown

into the gutter, the left wheel running over her and causing injuries from which she died. The truck in question was owned by defendant Fitzpatrick, Inc., but was rented at the time with its chauffeur to the New York Steam Company. The chauffeurs reported to the superintendent of the steam company each morning and he directed when and where the tracks were to go. He had no control, however, over the manner of operation of the trucks. Defendant, appellant, contended that the steam company, as special employer, was liable for the accident.