Summary
In Standard Oil Co. v. Robins Dry Dock Repair Co. (C.C.A.2. 1929) 30 F.2d 182, to which reference has been made, the employee of a ship owner was injured when he fell from an unsafe gangway furnished by the defendant dry dock company, and the ship owner was allowed to recover indemnity.
Summary of this case from Ch. Ill. Midland Ry. v. Evans Const. Co.Opinion
No. 264.
April 15, 1929.
Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of New York.
Action by the Standard Oil Company against the Robins Dry Dock Repair Company. Judgment for plaintiff [ 25 F.2d 339], and defendant appeals. Affirmed.
The case was tried under a written stipulation without a jury. The complaint alleged that the defendant undertook to repair the plaintiff's steamer John Worthington at its repair yard in Brooklyn; that pursuant to contract the steamer was delivered to the defendant at such yard; that, while the vessel was in possession of the defendant at its floating dry dock, one Anstee, a seaman employed by the plaintiff on such vessel as a cook, was proceeding from the deck of the steamer to the edge of the dry dock along a gangway owned and possessed by the defendant, when he fell to the bottom of the dry dock and received serious injuries; that Anstee was proceeding upon the gangway with the knowledge and permission of the defendant, in order to gain access to the public highway through defendant's yard, and the gangway from which he fell, and which had been placed between the ship and the dock by the defendant, was furnished by the defendant to plaintiff and its servants for use in crossing from the ship to the dock; that Anstee commenced an action in the New York Supreme Court against the plaintiff, Standard Oil Company, to recover damages for his injuries, and gave notice to the defendant herein to come and defend the same; that the plaintiff defended the action, while the defendant neglected to defend; that a judgment was rendered in that action against Standard Oil Company, which it was obliged to satisfy by the payment of $10,000; that it further expended $1,495.60 in the defense of the action; that the defendant failed to pay either of said amounts, though payment was duly demanded; that the injuries to Anstee were due to the unsafe and defective condition of the gangplank, and the failure of this defendant to maintain it in a safe condition.
The answer contained various denials and special defenses. The court filed an opinion, holding that the defendant invited the plaintiff to allow its employees to use the gangway, and was bound to keep it in a safe condition, and accordingly directed judgment against defendant for $11,495.60, with interest and costs, which judgment was thereupon entered to the amount of $14,183.24.
Cullen Dykman, of Brooklyn, N.Y. (Timothy J. Shea and Maximilian Moss, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., of counsel), for appellant.
Kirlin, Woolsey, Campbell, Hickox Keating, of New York City (Cletus Keating and James H. Herbert, both of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.
Before MANTON, SWAN, and AUGUSTUS N. HAND, Circuit Judges.
It is contended by the plaintiff that the appeal should be dismissed, because no order allowing it was obtained; but the bond on appeal was approved. This was enough to cure any irregularity in perfecting the appeal. Brandies v. Cochrane, 105 U.S. 262, 26 L. Ed. 989.
The record contains no bill of exceptions, so that we are confined to a review of errors appearing in the judgment roll. In this case we can only consider whether the complaint is sufficient to support the judgment. Fleischmann Co. v. United States, 270 U.S. 349, 46 S. Ct. 284, 70 L. Ed. 624. The complaint was founded on the primary obligation of the Robins Dry Dock Repair Company, that had furnished the gangway and had invited the plaintiff's employees to use it, to keep such gangway in a safe condition.
We can see no real distinction between the legal principles involved in this case and in Washington Gaslight Co. v. Dist. of Columbia, 161 U.S. 316, 16 S. Ct. 564, 40 L. Ed. 712, Geo. A. Fuller Co. v. Otis Elevator Co., 245 U.S. 489, 38 S. Ct. 180, 62 L. Ed. 422, and Petition of L. Boyer's Sons Co. (C.C.A.) 25 F.2d 602. In all three of those cases a third party had recovered against a person who was under a nondelegable duty to furnish a safe place to such third person, but in each case the primary and affirmative wrong was occasioned by the defendant against which indemnity was sought. In the Washington Gaslight Co. Case, supra, the District of Columbia had been held liable for injuries to a pedestrian caused by a deep and dangerous hole in a street in Washington. This hole was made by a gas box placed in the street by the Washington Gas Company, which had remained open and unrepaired. The District of Columbia notified the gas company to come in and defend the action brought against the District by the injured person. The Supreme Court held that a judgment against the District, rendered after notice to the gas company, and after opportunity afforded it to defend, was conclusive of the liability of the company to the District, and allowed the latter to recover indemnity for the amount that it had been obliged to pay.
In the case at bar the primary obligation of the Robins Dry Dock Repair Company is set up in the complaint. The judgment for the plaintiff, therefore, is in accordance with that pleading.
It is contended that the complaint should have alleged that Anstee, the person injured, was free from contributory negligence. But the liability of the defendant to Anstee, based upon the installation of a defective gangway and an invitation to use it, was conclusively determined by the state court judgment. The judgment, to the extent of establishing that liability, is binding upon this plaintiff, who had notice and the right to defend. Such was the ruling in the case of Washington Gaslight Co. v. Dist. of Columbia, supra.
The contention that the plaintiff here was bound to allege and prove freedom from contributory negligence as against the defendant is wholly contrary to the theory of Washington Gaslight Co. v. District of Columbia, supra. The whole basis of that decision was not freedom from negligence of the indemnitee but the primary fault of the indemnitor. Union Stockyards Co. v. Chicago, etc., R. Co., 196 U.S. 217, 25 S. Ct. 226, 49 L. Ed. 453, 2 Ann. Cas. 525, differs from the foregoing decision, because the person there seeking indemnity was concurrently negligent.
If Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v. Campania Transatlantica Espanola, 144 N.Y. at page 668, 39 N.E. 360, can be thought to require different allegations in the complaint, it is not in accordance with decisions binding upon us. Those decisions distinguish between primary and secondary negligence — between faults of commission and omission.
The matter which remained open to litigation in the case at bar was the question whether the defective gangway installed by the dry dock company was the primary cause of the injuries to Anstee. The installation of a defective gangway for the use of employees involved active negligence on the part of the dry dock company, whereas the neglect of the Standard Oil Company to inspect the gangway and to warn its employees against danger was a secondary fault of omission. In such circumstances, the plaintiff was entitled to indemnity. Washington Gaslight Co. v. Dist. of Columbia, 161 U.S. 316, 16 S. Ct. 564, 40 L. Ed. 712; Gray v. Boston Gaslight Co., 114 Mass. 149, 19 Am. Rep. 324; Scott v. Curtis, 195 N.Y. 424, 88 N.E. 794, 40 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1147, 133 Am. St. Rep. 811; Petition of L. Boyer's Sons Co. (C.C.A.) 25 F.2d 602.
The complaint clearly states facts showing the primary liability on the part of the dry dock company, and the judgment is in conformity with its allegations, which is accordingly affirmed.