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Swinarton v. Le Boutillier

58 N.Y. St. Rep. 345 Court N.Y.C.P. Decision date 1894-04-02 English

Delivered by Pryor, J.

Contents

Majority

p. 345
Anna E. Swinarton, Resp’t, v. George Le Boutillier, App’lt.
(New York Common Pleas, General Term,
Filed April 2, 1894.)

Headnote

1. Negligence—Invitation.
The presence of a mischievous human being on premises, may constitute the danger against which the law requires of the occupant reasonable care to protect his invitee.
2. Same—Merchant.
For the breach of duty in exercising reasonable care to secure a customer against injury from the misconduct of his employees, a merchant is liable in an action by such customer.
In an action for a personal injury, the plaintiff had a verdict for $10,000. A motion on the minutes for a new trial being denied, judgment was entered; and the appeal is from the judgment and the order denying a new trial. While a customer in defendant’s dry-goods store, plaintiff’s eye was put out by a pin snapped or shot by a cash-boy. Other facts appear in the opinion.
J. Delahunty, for app’lt; Hatch & Wickes, for resp’t.

The ground of an action for negligence is the breach of a duty owing by the defendant to the plaintiff. To sustain such action it is incumbent on the plaintiff to show the duty and to prove its breach, with a consequent injury to himself. In the present case, that the plaintiff has suffered injury from the act of which she complains, and that the damages awarded are not an excessive reparation for the wrong, if such there be, are not the subject of controversy. The contention is ever the two other elements of actionable negligence; the duty and its breach.

These essential facts plaintiff must established, not by a scintilla of evidence merely, but by proof reasonably sufficient to uphold a verdict in his favor. Upon a critical review of the evidence, our conviction is, that it suffices to support the facts from which plaintiff deduces the duty and the breach ; and hence, the question for adjudication is: Do those facts show a case of actionable negligence? In other words, can it be affirmed of the facts, as a legal conclusion, that they involve a violation of duty to the plaintiff? It is conceded that, at the time of her injury, the plaintiff was on the defendant’s premises by his invitation and for his advantage ; and that she suffered the hurt by effect of a mischievous agency operating on those premises, of which she was without notice. But this is not enough. To complete a case of actionable negligence, on the theory under consideration, the plaintiff must go farther, and show the defendant responsible for the harmful agency, by proof that it exists in consequence of his want of care. Imposing authority might be adduced for the proposition, that the duty of defendant was more absolute, that is, not to permit the hurtful agency on his premises; Beck v. Carter, 68 N. Y. 283 , 292, and citations; but we prefer to limit his liability to the absence of proper diligence in the protection of the plaintiff. Cough-try v. Globe Woolen Co., 56 N. Y. 124 ; Bennett v. R. R. Co., 102

p. 346
U. S. 577 . It being settled law, that an occupant of land is bound to use ordinary care and diligence to keep the premises in a safe condition for the presence of persons who come thereon by his invition, express or inplied, or for any other purpose beneficial to him, 2 S. & R. on Reg. § 704; the questions presented by the facts as found are: First, were the premises in an unsafe condition, in the legal sense; and secondly, if so, was that condition the effect of defendant’s want of care and diligence? Had plaintiff sustained the injury from a defect in the premises, or in machinery upon them, assuming negligence in keeping them, the liability of the defendant would be beyond dispute. But, here the injury was inflicted by the act of a boy with a propensity to the mischief, in the employ of the defendant and by him placed on the premises, in a position to do the injury. Why does not such boy so employed and placed, constitute a danger upon the premises, as effectual for evil as a trap door, or pitfall, or a dilapidated stairway? That the cause of the injury need not be an inanimate agency, is shown by the decision in Loomis v. Terry, 17 Wend., 197 , where held, that even a trespasser may maintain an action for the bite of ferocious dog left at large on the defendant’s lot. Carroll v. Staten Island R. R. Co., 58 N. Y. 126 , 136. In Mallach v. Ridley, 24 Abb. N. C., 172 , 181; 15 St. Rep. 4 , it is said that, “the stoor-keeper invites the public to enter his premises and to subject themselves to the custody and control of his subordinates ; and by parity of reasoning’’ (with that prevailing in common carrier cases) “ he should be held responsible for the brutalities of such subordinates; even when they are not committed iti the strict line of their employment.” In Dean v. St. Paul Union Depot Co., 37 Am. & Eng. R R. Cas., 360, the court said that, “the defendant was bound to use ordinary care and diligence to keep its premises in a safe condition for those who legitimately come there. It had no more right, therefore, to knowingly and advisely employ, or allow to be employed, in its depot building a dangerous or vicious man, than it would have to harbor a ferocious or savage, dog, or to permit a pitfall or trap into which a passenger might step as he was passing to or from his train.” The case at bar may be new in the instance, but not in the principle; and in the absence of authority to the contrary, upon the analogies of the law and the dictates of common sense, we adjudge that the presence of the boy on the prbmises with his propensity to evil-doing, was a danger against which it was the duty of the defendant, by the exercise of the proper care to protect the plaintiff. We hold, furthermore, that having invited the plaintiff into his store for his benefit, and having authorized and induced her to confide in the good conduct of his servants to whom in the transaction of his business he committed her, he thereby assumed the duty by the exercise of reasonable care, of protecting her from injury by the misconduct - of such servants; and that he is answerable to her for any injury she has sustained by such misconduct, which, in the exercise of reasonable care, he might have prevented.

The verdict involves the fact of his failure in the exercise of

p. 347
the duty so incumbent upon him. Sutter v. Vanderveer, 122 N. Y. 652 , 654; 34 St. Rep. 211 ; and we are to inquire whether the evidence suffices to justify the finding of the jury. The proof is ample to authorize these inferences; that the defendant kept in his store a number of “cash boys” for attendance on customers; shat among these boys the propensity and habit of “snapping pins” at objects and persons in the store were prevalent; that this snapping or shooting pins by these boys was likely to inflict injury on defendant’s customers, and did, in fact, inflict the injury of which the plaintiff complains; that this habit of snapping or shooting pins by these boys, had existed for months, and was known or ought to have been known by the defendant; that no reasonably sufficient precaution was taken by hirn to suppress the dangerous practice; and that he had not exercised a' reasonable degree of care and diligence to secure the plaintiff against injury from such dangerous practice. Such being the duty of the defendant and its breach to the injury of the plaintiff, and no contributory negligence being imputed to her, the right on her part to reparation in damages for the wrong, is clear and incontestable.

We are further of the opinion that plaintiff’s cause of action is so supported by the proof, that the court is not at liberty to set aside the verdict as against the weight of evidence. Nelson v. Easton & A. R. R. Co., herewith decided, 58 St. Rep.—. Hence, the judgment must be affirmed; unless the exception to the refusal to dismiss the complaint be valid, or there be prejudical error in the charge, or in the omission or exclusion of evidence. On the conclusion of the plaintiff’s case, and again at the close of all the evidence, the defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that the cause of action pleaded was unproved. But, it is obvious on inspection of the complaint, that it proceeds as well upon the duty of the defendant to protect the plaintiff from danger on his premises, as upon his duty to secure her against injury by his servants in the course of their employment. The court, also, put the case to the jury on the same theory.' To the charge itself no exception was taken; and, indeed, it was unexceptional. Three requests called upon the. court to charge that there was no evidence to support specific propositions of fact. On a motion to nonsuit or dismiss, it is undoubtedly the duty of the court to determine what the evidence is ; but submitting the case to the jury, it is a question whether the court may rightly instruct them that there is no proof of a particular fact. That matter being already decided by the judge, the deliberations of the jury are conducted on the assumption of some evidence of every essential fact ; and their function is only to determine the sufficiency of the evidence. However this may be, there was adequate evidence of the facts suggested by the appellant; and so, his requests were properly denied.

The other requests proceed on the supposition that no recovery could be had unless the injury to the plaintiff was caused by a servant in the line of his employment; whereas, it is already apparent in this opinion, that his liability stands well upon another and different principle of law.

p. 348
The vicious habit of the boys was admissible in evidence, both as a substantive fact in the cause and as affecting defendant’s knowledge of the danger incurred by plaintiff on his premises.

A statement of a witness to a third party not of the res gestae, and not tending to impeach his testimony in chief, is clearly in-, competent even on cross-examination.

If, however, there was error in the exclusion, it was harmless, because of the introduction of the statement at a subsequent stage of the trial.

Similarly, the error, if any, in allowing the question to plaintiff’s superintendent was innocuous, because the answer was in favor of the defendant. Besides, no ground of objection was specified. Evidence by the plaintiff explanatory of her procrastination in bringing suit, we are not at liberty to condemn as immaterial, since in his brief before us as appellant carefully inserts the statement that “this action was commenced three days before the day of which it would have been outlawed. ’’ If the fact of the delay be deemed of effect upon us, it could hardly have been without influence with the jury. In the absence of error in the record, we affirm the judgment. Judgment and order affirmed,, with costs.

All concur.

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