Court Opinion

ID: 9546590
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:32:28.905092+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:39.318647
License: Public Domain

Olson, J.
(dissenting)—I cannot agree that the evidence is sufficient to establish the liability of defendants, either upon the contract theory rejected by the majority or upon the tort theory accepted by the majority.
To establish liability in tort, plaintiffs must show that defendants did not exercise reasonable care commensurate with the dangerous nature of the substance they were installing. In the absence of a contractual duty on defendants to inspect the installation, plaintiffs assume the burden of inspecting and maintaining their equipment in safe condition, and defendants had the right to assume, in the absence of notice, that plaintiffs had performed this duty. These rules are stated in the Moran case cited in the opinion.
The majority state that it is conceded that defendants had no actual notice of any defect in plaintiffs’ installation. For this reason, the cited Fairfax case is not in point.
Constructive notice of the defective installation remains as the only possible basis of defendants’ liability. The majority rely upon but two circumstances to support this ground of recovery. The first is that Mrs. Reeder complained of the odor of gas in the kitchen when the burners were being adjusted. The escape of gas was to be expected during this process, and an odor in the room at this time *554cannot be said to require a reasonable man to search for a defect in the pipe line. The second is that the metal in the pipe at the tank and at the stove was dissimilar. The evidence is that Elliott did not observe this difference. He had been told by plaintiffs that one piece of pipe would be used. He was not told that a connection had been made in the line, and he had no reason to look for one.
When Elliott finished his work, the stove functioned properly. No cause of the explosion was shown. Any hissing noise caused by the leak was noticed after and not before the explosion. To hold defendants liable upon the facts of this case makes them insurers and also enlarges their'duty specified by their contract with plaintiffs and by the rules expressed in the Moran case.
The question of the contributory negligence of plaintiffs has not been discussed. Their recovery is also barred on this ground because of the defective nature of the connection they installed in the gas line, and possibly other facts in the case.
The judgment should be reversed.
Donworth and Weaver, JJ., concur with Olson, J.
June 16, 1953. Petition for rehearing denied.