Case Title: Stephens v. McGuire

Citation: 184 Kan. 46, 334 P.2d 363

Docket Number: 41,132

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1959-01-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
184 Kan. 46 (1959)
334 P.2d 363
MILDRED V. STEPHENS, Appellee,
v.
WILLIAM B. McGUIRE, d/b/a McGUIRE'S HELP SELF LAUNDRY, Appellant.
No. 41,132

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed January 24, 1959.
Max Wyman and Don Wyman, both of Hutchinson, were on the briefs for the appellant.
Abraham Weinlood, Bill R. Cole, Kenneth F. Ehling, D. Stewart Oswalt, and John H. Shaffer, all of Hutchinson, were on the brief for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
JACKSON, J.:
The appellee sued the appellant in the court below alleging she received personal injuries in the use of an alleged defective electric washing machine furnished to her at appellant's self-service laundry. Appellant appeals from the order of the district court overruling a demurrer to appellee's amended petition.
The pertinent parts of the amended petition are contained in four paragraphs thereof which are set out below:
I.
*48 II.
III.
IV.
The amended petition continued by alleging damages and prayed for judgment in the sum of $20,569.37.
While appellant has appealed from an intermediate motion to strike as well as from the order overruling his demurrer, only one question is argued in the brief which apparently has to do with the order on the demurrer. At any rate, it would seem that the same question would arise on the motion to strike. The contention of appellant seems to be that appellee's amended petition fails to state a cause of action on the theory of res ipsa loquitur.
Appellant's actual argument comes down to the contention that the amended petition shows contributory negligence upon the part of the appellee in allowing her fingers to be caught in the wringer and that therefore, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur has no application. Of course, if contributory negligence appears, not only is the petition insufficient on the theory of res ipsa loquitur, but it would also be insufficient on the theory of specific allegations of negligence.
Moreover, contributory negligence has always been held in this state to be an affirmative defense to be pleaded and proved by the defendant unless plaintiff's petition discloses on its face that he has been guilty of contributory negligence. As early as the case of Union Pac. Ry. Co. v. Hand, 7 Kan. 380, it was said:
We shall not attempt to list the cases in which this court has adhered to the rule since 1871, but in the case of French v. Heibert, 175 Kan. 296, 262 P.2d 831, the late Mr. Chief Justice Harvey said:
Appellant refers us to the case of Lamb v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 180 Kan. 157, 300 P.2d 387, and quotes therefrom. We note, however, that appellant has only quoted the first two sentences contained in a paragraph of the opinion. The complete paragraph reads as follows:
The Lamb case contains careful definitions of the elements of the rules pertaining to the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. The facts of the case were that plaintiff had been called to fix some tires on a heavy truck which had been parked at the curb by the defendant. After the tires were fixed and the plaintiff was standing with his back to the truck, it moved forward and crushed him. He sued defendant who had parked the truck and the majority of the court *51 held that his petition stated a cause of action on the theory of res ipsa loquitur.
The real question in the Lamb case was whether or not defendant had complete control of the truck at the time of the accident. The holding in the Lamb case is not helpful to the appellant in this case on that theory because certainly appellant here had a great deal more control of the washing machine than defendant had over the truck in the Lamb case. As to the matter of control, appellant cites the case of Johnson v. Latimer, 180 Kan. 720, 308 P.2d 65. That case involved the escape of carbon monoxide gas from a furnace in plaintiff's own house. The majority of the court there held that the furnace was available to the plaintiff and under his control and he could, therefore, inspect the same and allege what defects existed therein. As a result of such a situation, it was held by the majority that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur did not apply.
In the case at bar, the washing machine is shown to have been at all times in the place of business of the defendant and under his control except for the mere license granted to the appellee to use it to wash her clothes.
As to appellant's duty in such a situation, it is said in Restatement, Torts, § 408:
Attention is also directed to Comment a, under § 408.
We note that in other jurisdictions courts have considered the matter of the dangerous propensities of electric washing machines and the necessity of having the safety device on the wringer in working order. In Shaefer v. Investors' Company, 150 Or. 16, 41 P.2d 440, 97 A.L.R. 213, we find a case where the tenant of an apartment house sued the landlord for injuries where it was alleged that he had failed to instruct her in the operation of the wringer. The court said:
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania also discussed the duty of a vendor to supply a purchaser with a machine having an efficient safety device on the wringer in the case of Ebbert et al. v. Phila. Electric Co., Aplnt., 330 Pa. 257, 198 Atl. 323. The court said:
In both of the above cases, plaintiffs had sued to recover damages for injuries suffered when their fingers became caught in a wringer of an electric washing machine and the safety device failed to release the wringer. It seems to us that the allegations of appellee's amended petition do not show contributory negligence on her part. Therefore, the argument that such contributory negligence was the proximate cause of the accident needs no comment herein.
We have not considered the question whether or not plaintiff's petition might also contain a cause of action based upon specific negligence. If that were true, appellant's demurrer should have been overruled regardless of the question of whether a cause is stated based upon res ipsa loquitur. It has been held by this court that a single petition may contain claims upon allegations of specific negligence and upon the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. (Emrie v. *53 Tice, 174 Kan. 739, 258 P.2d 332; Hoffman v. Hill, 175 Kan. 826, 267 P.2d 526.)
All other matters referred to in appellant's brief have been given careful attention, but have been found to require no further comment. The order of the district court in overruling appellant's demurrer to the amended petition should be and is hereby affirmed.
It is so ordered.