Court Opinion

ID: 9734851
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:48:08.146306+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:51.658676
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE GEORGE J. MORAN, dissenting: I believe the trial court erred in allowing into evidence testimony that there had never been any complaints about the way Curtis White handled his engine. When the character of an employee is in issue, his reputation may be shown; however, statements which are not confined to reputation should not be allowed into evidence. Illustrative of this point is Staunton Coal Co. v. Bub, 218 Ill. 125, 75 N.E. 770. Staunton involved an action for damages for injuries to a miner, which resulted when the engineer hoisted the cage before the signal to hoist had been given. In his complaint the plaintiff alleged negligence of the employer in permitting an incompetent employee to operate the engine raising and lowering the cage. The defendant coal company sought to have the mine manager and his assistant testify as to whether they had ever received any complaints concerning the incompetency of the engineer in hoisting without a signal and as to whether any injuries had ever resulted from the acts of the engineer. Both of these questions were excluded by the trial court; however, the witnesses were permitted to testify as to the employee’s general reputation as an engineer. The Illinois Supreme Court held that the evidence had been properly confined to general reputation. Staunton Coal Co. v. Bub, 218 Ill. 125, 128. In this case the court, over the objection of plaintiff, permitted White to testify that there had never been any complaints about the way he handled his engine. In allowing such testimony into evidence over plaintiff’s objection, the trial court erred. Statements as to the lack of complaints made about a particular individual are not part of the community estimate of that individual’s character. Such statements are beyond the bounds of reputation and, therefore, when admitted can only tend to mislead the jury. The trial court also erred in refusing to give an instruction defining contributory negligence, specifically plaintiff’s instruction number 12, which was IPI 11.01, while giving IPI 10.03, which instructed the jury that plaintiff had a duty to be free from contributory negligence. When the plaintiff tendered IPI 11.01, the defendant objected, stating it had an instruction on that issue it would offer. The trial court then sustained defendant’s objection. In spite of defendant’s statement, no. other instruction defining contributory negligence was ever tendered by the defendant. Appellant cites the comments of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions to IPI 10.03 and IPI 11.01, which state that IPI 11.01 should be used whenever contributory negligence is a jury issue and that IPI 11.01 should be used with IPI 10.03. The thrust of appellee’s contention on this point is that since contributory negligence would not be a complete bar to recovery under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act and would not even be a consideration under the Federal Safety Appliance Act, the verdict in favor of defendant indicates that plaintiff was not prejudiced by the court's refusal to give IPI 11.01. Appellee cites McManus v. Feist, 76 Ill.App.2d 99, 221 N.E.2d 418, 422 for this contention. Appellee also points out that the instructions should be considered as a series and that since the jury was instructed that contributory negligence could be, at most, only a mitigitating factor, no reversible error was committed. While I agree with appellee that generally in a case where contributory negligence could be, at most, a mitigating factor, a verdict for the defendant would negate any prejudicial effect of not giving an instruction defining contributory negligence. Under the circumstances of this case, not giving such an instruction constituted prejudicial error. This becomes apparent especially when viewing this issue together with the final issue raised by plaintiff. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in allowing improper argument by defendant’s counsel. In particular, appellant refers to statements made by defendant’s counsel in his opening statement and in his closing argument. One such statement was that it was plaintiff’s duty to check the braking system and the air hoses. Another statement was, in effect, that there was no evidence of improper brakes, since plaintiff testified that he had checked the brakes and had found them to be working properly. A third statement was to the effect that the jury should consider plaintiff’s own negligence which contributed to the accident, since he was the one who checked the brakes. The appellee contends that the statements were properly admitted because, on one hand, they correctly described plaintiffs duties of employment, and, on the other hand, they were aimed at showing there was no violation of the Safety Appliance Act. I cannot agree with the appellee; allowing the jury to consider these statements of defendant’s counsel was prejudicial error. Under certain circumstances, even a true statement can be prejudicially misleading. It is not the statement itself which is harmful, but rather the implication carried with the statement when it is used in a given context. Such is the case in Osborne v. Leonard, 99 Ill.App.2d 391, 396, 240 N.E.2d 769, in which the court stated: “The introduction into defendant’s opening statement of the fact that the police investigating officer issued no ticket, inferred that defendant was free of guilt. This was most damaging to plaintiff and clear error.” In the instant case the jury was instructed that contributory negligence would only be a mitigating factor if defendant violated the Federal Employer’s Liability Act and would not be a factor at all if defendant violated the Safety Appliance Act. However, the jury was not given an instruction defining contributory negligence; and the jury was allowed to hear an argument which tells them to consider plaintiff’s negligence in checking the braking system in reaching their verdict. This argument was allowed even though plaintiff’s check of the brakes could have no relevance under the Safety Appliance Act. (McCarthy v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 156 F.2d 877 (7th Cir. 1946), cert. den. (1947), 329 U.S. 812, 91 L.Ed. 693, 67 S.Ct. 635.) When counsel for the plaintiff attempted to explain to the jury in his rejoinder that Feigl’s conduct could have no effect on the defendant’s duty to adhere to and to comply with the provisions of the Safety Appliance Act, the defendant’s objection to such an explanation was sustained. This compounded the error. No matter how much faith we put in the ability of the jury, the circumstances of the instant case could only have left them in a state of confusion, to the detriment of the plaintiff. Considering the improper argument, the lack of an instruction defining contributory negligence, and the improper questioning of the witness, Curtis White, I believe the plaintiff is entitled to a new trial.