Court Opinion

ID: 9741680
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:00:27.618239+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:25.447503
License: Public Domain

Carter, Yeager, and Boslattgh, JJ.,
dissenting.
The Parsons Construction Company contracted to replace the cornice and supporting firewall on the north and west sides of the Patterson Building in Omaha. Parsons contracted with the defendant Schaap, doing business as the Speedway Scaffold Company, to furnish and erect a steel scaffold from which this work could be done. The scaffold was erected on or before August 23, 1954, and turned over to Parsons for use. On September 14, 1954, the plaintiff fell from the scaffold due to the upending of a plank upon which he was standing while at work. The question to be determined on this appeal *598is whether or not the evidence is sufficient to support a judgment' based on a finding that Speedway furnished and negligently installed the plank which upended and caused the accident.
The evidence is undisputed that Speedway properly constructed the steel or iron portions of the scaffold. The main platform of the' scaffold was planked with five planks 10 and 12 inches in width. Between the main platform and the building brackets were attached having a width of 21% inches on which one additional 10 or 12 inch plank was laid. All planks overlapped on the ends and were spiked together, although some issue was raised on this which we will hereafter discuss.
The evidence of the witness Connolly, who erected the scaffold for Speedway, is that he personally spiked every plank. The testimony of the witness Sorenson, the general superintendent for Parsons, is that he found about 5 percent of the planks not spiked and that he caused these to be spiked before employees of Parsons were permitted to use the scaffold. As an additional precaution he spiked some of the planks from the under side and added some cleats to insure safety in the use of the scaffold. Sorenson testified that the scaffold was erected in an excellent manner, although he took further steps to insure safety in its use.
The evidence further shows that Parsons caused long strips of % inch plywood to be leaned against the wall of the building which were toe-nailed to the inside plank of the main platform put in by Speedway to prevent debris falling through to the sidewalk below. Parsons also set up plywood, four feet in height, around the outside of the scaffold platform to prevent workmen from falling from the scaffold, in addition to the guard posts and chains erected by Speedway. The platform and ■ plywood were then covered with canvas. After this was done the employees of Parsons used the scaffold" from August 23, 1954, to September 14, 1954, without mishap in rebuilding the cornice and firewall on the building. *599During, this period Speedway did not inspect nor was it required to inspect the scaffold.
On the morning of September 14, 1954, the employees of Parsons removed the canvas, the plywood guard around the platform, and the plywood over the space next to the building. In the afternoon the plaintiff was engaged in washing the lime and mortar stains off the newly constructed firewall. While standing on the plank nearest the building in the performance of this work, the plank upended and he fell through the space nearest the building to the sidewalk below and was injured. It is not disputed that the plank which upended had no nail holes in it and had not, therefore, been spiked. The question at issue, reduced to its simplest form, is whether there is any evidence that the plank was one furnished and negligently installed by Speedway sufficient to take that issue to the jury.
The plaintiff testified he was standing on the plank closest to the building and that he fell through the space nearest the building. After his fall he observed the space through which he fell and stated that it was the space next to the building. The witness Cato stated that the brackets were completely covered with planks which means that planks had been added after Speedway had turned the scaffold over to Parsons. The witness Gosch testified that it was the inside board of the main platform which upended. His statement is clearly explainable by his evidence that there were no brackets on the scaffold, a statement which is in conflict with the evidence of every other witness having any knowledge of the facts. His evidence is in direct conflict with that of plaintiff, Cato, Sorenson, and Connolly as to where the upended plank came from. His conclusion rested on a completely false premise, a situation which produced a false conclusion.
The witness Connolly states that he made a record of all materials used in the erection of the scaffold which he supervised. He dismantled the scaffold 'short*600ly after the accident and he testified that every plank he installed was in place and properly spiked. No witness testified that any plank installed by Speedway was missing from its proper place after the accident.
The witness Sorenson who was Parsons’ general superintendent testified that he inspected the scaffold immediately after the accident. He found no plank installed by Speedway out of its proper place. He testified that Speedway covered the main platform its full width with five planks which were 10 and 12 inches in width and placed one plank on the brackets, all of which were properly in place after the accident. He testified also that he examined the plank which had upended, that it contained no nail holes, and that it was covered with paint and plaster lime. He recognized the plank which had upended as a used one that he had taken from Parsons’ material yard for use in anchoring the Parsons’ derrick on the roof of the Patterson Building. He was positive that the plank was not one installed by Speedway. Sorenson testified that Speedway placed but one plank on the brackets. At the time he supervised the installation of the plywood over the space next to the building, the number of planks on the brackets varied from one to two in through there. This clearly shows that some planks had been added after the scaffold had been turned over to Parsons.
We submit that there is not a scintilla of evidence that the plank which upended belonged to or was negligently installed by Speedway. We point out that after the scaffold was erected it was turned over to Parsons. Speedway is not shown to have been under any obligation to inspect or maintain the scaffold after it passed under the control of Parsons. Parsons inspected and took additional safety precautions before its employees were permitted to use it. For more than 3 weeks Parsons’ employees had been using the scaffold in the performance of their work. Parsons not only had added plywood and canvas to the scaffold as before *601stated, but it had dismantled its contributions to the safety of the scaffold. The scaffold had been inspected, changed with additions, and exclusively controlled by Parsons for more than 3 weeks before the accident. The maintenance of the scaffold was assumed by Parsons and in the absence of proof that the plank which upended was furnished and negligently installed by Speedway, negligence by Speedway cannot be presumed. In our opinion, the plaintiff has failed to sustain his allegations of negligence by Speedway, and that the verdict and judgment have no support in the evidence.
A jury will not be permitted to return a verdict when there is no evidence sufficient to support it. It has long been the rule in this state that when the verdict is clearly wrong because of a want of support in the evidence, the verdict and judgment thereon cannot stand. See Pueppka v. Iowa Mutual Ins. Co., 165 Neb. 781, 87 N. W. 2d 410, and cases therein cited. It seems clear to us that the motion of Speedway for a directed verdict made at the close of all the evidence should have been sustained. We think the judgment of the district court should be reversed.