[DOWNLOAD] "Culwell v. Abbott Construction Co." by Supreme Court of Kansas # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Culwell v. Abbott Construction Co.
- Author : Supreme Court of Kansas
- Release Date : January 03, 1973
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 62 KB
Description
The opinion of the court was delivered by This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries. The plaintiff Dick Culwell claimed he was injured as the result of his tripping over a chalk line placed by the defendant, Abbott Construction Company, Inc., over a sidewalk leading into the Phillips County Hospital at Phillipsburg, Kansas. The case was tried to a jury which found in favor of the defendant. Most of the factual circumstances are not in dispute and are substantially as follows: The defendant, a building contractor, was engaged in construction work on the hospital building. The work involved a certain amount of excavating and the defendant's employees had placed a chalk line or nylon string across the sidewalk and running nearly the length of the building to mark the perimeter of the excavation work. The sidewalk led to the doors of the hospital on the north side. The plaintiff Culwell while using the sidewalk to enter the hospital tripped over the chalk line and fell against a portion of the building. The testimony was hotly disputed as to the color of the cord, its height above the sidewalk, its visibility to pedestrians, and the presence or absence of a warning barrier or sign to warn pedestrians using the sidewalk. There was evidence in the case both to establish and to negate negligence on the part of the defendant and contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The nature and extent of the injuries which plaintiff suffered were also the subject of conflicting testimony. After two mistrials in Phillips County the venue of the third trial was changed to Rooks County. There the jury brought in a general verdict in favor of the defendant construction company. Having been denied relief the plaintiff Culwell brought a timely appeal to this court. The plaintiff's principal claims of error on this appeal are based upon the refusal of the trial court to give certain instructions requested by the plaintiff. In his petition the plaintiff alleged three causes of action as a basis for recovery for his personal injuries. Count 1 alleged that plaintiff was injured as the result of the maintenance of a nuisance by the defendant. Count 2 sought recovery of punitive damages based upon a claim of willful and wanton negligence. Count 3 alleged a cause of action for compensatory damages based upon the negligence of the defendant's employees. In its answer the defendant Abbott Construction Company denied that it was maintaining a nuisance, denied that it was guilty of willful and wanton negligence, denied that it was guilty of ordinary negligence [211 Kan. 361]