Kwiatkousky v. Nadolny

Headnote

Negligence ■— machinery ■— child injured by placing hand in meat chopping machine while waiting in meat market for his order to be filled.

Kwiatkousky v. Nadolny (2 cases), 222 App. Div. 832 , affirmed.

Appeal, in each of the above-entitled actions, from a judgment, entered January 30, 1928, upon an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the second judicial department, reversing a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict and directing a dismissal of the complaint. The first action was to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the negligence of defendant. The second action, by the father of the plaintiff in the first, was to recover for loss of services and expense caused by the injuries to his son. Defendant conducted a retail meat market in which there was an electrically driven meat chopping machine. The infant plaintiff, a boy nine years of age, was sent to the market by his mother to purchase chopped meat. The defendant placed some meat in the chopper, started it and leaving it in operation went into the ice box. While he was absent the boy placed his hand in at the top of the machine and as a result lost three fingers. The Appellate Division dismissed the complaint on the ground that the boy was negligent as matter of law, if sui juris, and if not, the negligence of his mother in permitting him to touch the machine was attributable to him.