[Download] "Reidy v. Crompton & Knowles Loom Works" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Reidy v. Crompton & Knowles Loom Works
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 06, 1945
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 73 KB
Description
SPALDING, Justice. Michael J. Reidy during his lifetime brought this action of tort to recover for personal injuries sustained while in the employ of the defendant corporation, which was not insured under the Workmen's Compensation Act. Following the death of Reidy, his widow, who was his administratrix, was admitted as the party plaintiff to prosecute the action. The case was tried to a jury and a verdict was returned for the plaintiff. The case is here on the defendant's exceptions to a denial of its motion for a directed verdict, to the Judge's refusal to grant certain requests for instructions, to portions of the charge, and to numerous rulings relating to the admission and exclusion of evidence. The evidence viewed in its aspect most favorable to the plaintiff warranted the jury in finding the following facts: The plaintiff's intestate, hereinafter called the deceased, was employed by the defendant from 1918 to July 5, 1933. Down to 1932 he was one of a group of men assigned to work at various jobs in the defendant's foundry. During the greater portion of this period his duties included the transporting of coke, scrap iron, limestone and sand to the stack room in the foundry, and the shoveling of coke and other materials into the furnaces. He was also called upon from time to time to repair and reline the stacks. This necessitated his entering the stacks where he would reline the sections inside which had burnt away and would patch up the cracks with fire clay (which consisted of sand and clay) and 'silica rock.' For several years prior to the fall of 1932 he was exposed 'to an excessive amount of dust and sand and gas fumes caused by a back-draft in the furnace'; 'the place was filled with gas and dirt most of the time.' On windy days there was so much dust in the air that one man could not be distinguished from another. When the deceased would return home from work he 'would be covered with a film of dust'; it 'would be in the hair * * * eyebrows * * * moustache.' Some of the materials used where the deceased worked contains silica. One of these materials, namely, foundry sand, contained a 'very high content of silica.' Silica 'cannot be seen with the naked eye or even with the aid of the ordinary microscope but can only be determined by special apparatus.' The defendant knew that dust containing silica was harmful. Prior to 1928 there were no fans to eliminate the dust and gases in the place where the deceased worked, but during that year fans were installed. These fans were inadequate and out of order most of the time. The deceased complained of this condition to the foreman some time in 1930 and at other times thereafter and was assured that it would be taken care of, but nothing was done about it. This condition existed down to 1932 when the deceased was transferred to the job of operating an elevator in the foundry. The elevator was near the stack room and the deceased carried 'the stuff' from the first to the second floor. Masks or respirators for the purpose of eliminating the inhalation of dangerous dust were used by workers in certain parts of the foundry since 1920, but they were not worn by those employed where the deceased worked.