Title: Bond v. Cartwright Little League, Inc.

State: arizona

Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court

Document:

112 Ariz. 9 (1975) 536 P.2d 697 James Lee BOND and Eiko Bond, his wife, Appellants, v. CARTWRIGHT LITTLE LEAGUE, INC., an Arizona Non-Profit Corporation, Appellee. No. 11703. Supreme Court of Arizona, In Division. June 6, 1975. Rehearing Denied July 8, 1975. *11 Tupper, Rapp, Salcito & Schlosser, P.A. by Daniel R. Salcito, Divelbiss & Gage, by G. David Gage, Phoenix, for appellants. Scoville & Hoffman, P.C. by Leroy W. Hofmann, Robbins, Green, O'Grady & Abbuhl, P.A. by John D. Lyons, Jr., Phoenix, for appellee. CAMERON, Chief Justice. This is an appeal by the plaintiff James Lee Bond from the granting of a motion of the defendant Cartwright Little League, Inc., for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative granting a motion for a new trial. We must answer the following questions on appeal: The facts necessary for a determination of this motion on appeal are as follows. In the spring of 1970 the Cartwright Little League, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation, through its authorized representatives, was the high bidder at an auction to purchase the stadium flood lights located at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It was understood that the lights were sold on the poles and that the successful bidder was to remove the lights by a certain time. After the bid was accepted a written agreement for the removal of the stadium lights was entered into between Cartwright Little League, Inc., and the City of Phoenix. The agreement contained the following provision: The lights were on the top of 100 foot metal poles surrounding the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. At the top of the pole there was a platform with a guard rail so that once the person climbing the pole reached the top he had a safe position from which to work. The metal pole itself contained metal steps or rungs protruding from both sides of the metal pole, said rungs commencing some eight feet off the ground. It was necessary to reach the first rung by way of a ladder and then to climb to the platform at the top of the pole where, once the platform was reached, the lights could be dismantled and lowered by a line to the ground. The officers of the Cartwright Little League, Inc., decided to remove the lights with the help of volunteers. Mr. Raymond Roger, President of the Cartwright Little *12 League, Inc., testified that he asked for volunteers at a general meeting of parents in April which had been called for the purpose of selecting managers, coaches, and umpires. He announced that assistance was needed to remove the lights. Sgt. Bond did not respond to this request for help and later Mr. Roger approached Sgt. Bond asking specifically for help: Bond was an Air Force Master Sergeant of 22 years experience. Bond's climbing experience included once climbing a tall wooden pole in the Air Force in 1955 as well as routinely inspecting fuel tanks for the Air Force in his current job. These fuel tanks were approximately forty feet high and reached by climbing. Bond testified that after he arrived at the stadium: When Bond was three-quarters of the way up the pole to the lights, he began to feel muscle spasms in his shoulders and he decided it was best to descend. On the way down, he suddenly lost his ability to grip in his left hand and fell down the remaining forty feet. *13 The defendant moved for a directed verdict which was denied. The jury was properly instructed as to contributory negligence and assumption of risk. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $100,000 and judgment was entered therein. On 14 September 1972, the trial court filed its memorandum and order reading in part as follows: WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LITTLE LEAGUE AND BOND? The Cartwright Little League, Inc., contends that Bond was a mere volunteer to whom a very slight duty of care was owed. See Western Truck Lines, Ltd. v. DuVaull, 57 Ariz. 199, 112 P.2d 589 (1941). On the other hand, Bond argues that he was a gratuitous employee and because a master-servant relationship existed, the Cartwright Little League, Inc., owed him a higher standard of care. *14 Although one is engaged in some endeavor gratuitously, he may still be a "servant" within the scope of the master-servant doctrine. Scottsdale Jaycees v. Superior Court, 17 Ariz. App. 571, 499 P.2d 185 (1972); Restatement (Second) of Agency, § 225 (1958). The two key elements for the determination of whether a gratuitous undertaking is part of the master-servant relationship are whether the actor has submitted himself to the directions and control of the one for whom the service is done and whether the primary purpose underlying the act was to serve another. In the Arizona case of Vickers v. Gercke, 86 Ariz. 75, 340 P.2d 987 (1959), a diocese priest called for parishioners with extra time to work gratuitously in the parochial school cafeteria. Mrs. Vickers agreed to help staff the lunch counter several days a week. While working under the supervision and direction of the cafeteria manager, Mrs. Vickers slipped and fell on mashed potatoes which hadn't been mopped up. Mrs. Vickers sued. The jury could not reach a verdict and the trial court granted a judgment notwithstanding no verdict. This court held that Mrs. Vickers was a "gratuitous employee" and not a mere volunteer and the matter was remanded for trial. Another factor to be considered in determining whether a person is a gratuitous employee or a mere volunteer is the interest of the person performing the work. In defining what a volunteer is, it is stated at 92 C.J.S. Volunteer p. 1032: The cases are clear that if the so-called "volunteer" had an interest in the work, then he was not a mere volunteer and does not, as a consequence, assume the risk of being injured by ordinary negligence. Pace v. Gibson, 357 Mich. 315, 98 N.W.2d 654 (1959); Green v. Market Supply, 257 Or. 451, 479 P.2d 736 (1971): We believe that the relationship between Sgt. Bond and the Cartwright Little *15 League, Inc., was that of a gratuitous employee rather than a mere volunteer. Cartwright Little League, Inc., set the time and place as well as the manner in which the lights were to be removed and had control over Bond's actions while he was working for Cartwright Little League, Inc.: Bond shared with Mrs. Vickers, in Vickers v. Gercke, supra, the same relationship to the employer. Neither had to volunteer, both could refuse to do what they were directed to do and quit if they did not want to perform the services suggested. Yet while they worked, albeit voluntarily, they worked under the direction and control of their respective employers and the employers owed them a duty to "provide a reasonably safe place to work and to warn the employee of dangers inherent in the place of employment." Flynn v. Lindenfield, 6 Ariz. App. 459, 433 P.2d 639 (1967). JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT The test for determining whether a judgment notwithstanding the verdict will stand is whether the evidence, if treated in the most favorable light to the verdict, is substantial enough that reasonable men could discern facts to support the verdict: What is a reasonably safe place to work can depend upon the ability of the worker as well as the premises. In the instant case there was no showing made that the Cartwright Little League, Inc., had deviated from the normal safety practices of the professional Phoenix electricians who worked on these stadium poles. The evidence was uncontroverted that cleats on shoes could not be utilized when climbing a metal pole as opposed to a wooden pole. The evidence indicates safety harnesses were not used on these poles since the harness could become entangled in the metal rungs, impede movement, and even create a danger. For the experienced lineman the poles at Phoenix Municipal Stadium were no more dangerous than any other poles a lineman usually works on and absent hidden defects known to the employer there was no duty to warn of the danger or to ascertain that the lineman could in fact climb the pole safely. For the amateur gratuitous employee, however, the pole was a place of potential danger and was not a reasonably safe place on which he could work. We believe there was sufficient testimony from which the jury could have found that the Cartwright Little League, Inc., violated the standards of reasonable care in: 1. failing to warn Bond of the danger in order that he could decline to work on the pole, or 2. not determining that Bond was capable of climbing the pole. Wyle v. Moore, 52 Ariz. 537, 84 P.2d 450 (1938); Flynn v. Lindenfield, supra; Arizona Lumber and Timber Co. v. Mooney, 4 Ariz. 96, 33 P. 590 (1893). A judgment notwithstanding the verdict is designed to permit the trial court, after mature deliberation, to revise *16 its ruling in denying the motion for directed verdict. In re Schade's Estate, 87 Ariz. 341, 351 P.2d 173 (1960). We believe that there was sufficient evidence of negligence to go to the jury and that the trial judge would have been wrong in granting a defense motion for directed verdict. The motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict should not have been granted. MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL The trial judge in granting the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict also rules on the motion for new trial as required by Rule 50(c), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S. He granted the motion if the judgment notwithstanding the verdict should be set aside on the basis of the instructions numbered 1, 3 and 6 being erroneous. The reasons stated comply with the requirement of Rule 59(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., as well as the narrow requirement of sufficiency as stated by this court in Rogers v. Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, 100 Ariz. 154, 412 P.2d 272 (1966). Instruction No. 1 directed the jury that James Bond was not a mere volunteer but a gratuitous employee and that as such the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to "provide a reasonably safe place to work and to warn the employee of the dangers inherent in the place of employment." For the reasons previously stated, we find no error in this instruction. Instruction No. 3 read as follows: For the reasons stated above, we find no error in this instruction. Instruction No. 6 read as follows: Again, for the reasons stated above, we find no error in this instruction. We therefore find that the trial court was in error in granting the motion for new trial. ADDITUR The plaintiff moved for additur, see Rule 59(i), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., and appeals from a denial thereof. We find no error. The question of additur is left to the greatest possible discretion of the trial court and its decision will not be disturbed on appeal except for a clear abuse of discretion: The judgment notwithstanding the verdict is set aside. The order granting the motion for new trial is set aside and the matter remanded to the trial court for entry of judgment on the verdict and for such other matters as are proper and consistent with this opinion. STRUCKMEYER, V.C.J., concurs. HAYS, Justice (concurring). I concur in the result.