Citations
- 69 Fla. 701
Full opinion text
Whitfield, J.
The declaration herein is as follows: “Whereas the plaintiff Rosa Belle Glover is the widow of Edward Glover and was on the 11th day of November, A. D. 1912, the lawful wife of the said Edward Glover and was supported and maintained by the labor of the said Edward Glover, who as her husband was her sole and only support, and the plaintiff was then and has been ever since her marriage, supported and maintained by the said Edward Glover; and that whereas on the said 11th day of November, A. D. 1912, the said Edward Glover was employed as a laborer, by the City of Jacksonville, a municipal corporation, under the laws of the State of Florida, at a certain electric plant and power house in Duval County, Florida, owned, maintained, operated and •controlled by said City of Jacksonville, and was ordered and sent by defendant to work on the coping around and about the top of the main building of said electric plant of f-aid defendant, and said Edward Glover in compliance with said order of defendant went to and on said coping, to perform said work, and it was the duty of the defendant to use due care to provide and maintain, for the said Edward Glover a safe place to work, suitable warning of the unusual and extraordinary risks and suitable supervision over the work; yet notwithstanding the defendants duty in that behalf, plaintiff avers that defendant negligently and cai’elessly disregarded its said duties in that it failed and refused to provide the said Edward Glover a reasonable safe place in which to work, suitable and proper warning of the unusual and extraordinary risks and proper and suitable supervision over said work, for that the said Edward Glover being then and there at a place where he was ordered, sent and required by defendant to work, and that above and about said coping within close proximity, were certain electric wires pertaining to the premises and business of said defendant, and known to the defendant or could have been known by the exercise of reasonable care, that said wires were heavily charged with electricity and were unprotected and unguarded, and that the electric power passing over and through said wires endangered the lives of the persons ordered and sent to work on said coping on said premises, a!nd the plaintiff further says that the defendant knew or could have known by the exercise of ordinary care that if said wires should come in contact with any person working on said coping while charged with electricity it would cause death or great bodily injury. And the plaintiff further says that while the said Edward Glover was attempting to carry out and perform the orders and work of the defendant his hand and head came in contact with the said wires which were charged with electricity, the fact that the said wires were so charged was unknown to the said Edward Glover, whereby the said Edward Glover received an electric shock and was held fast to said wires until the current of electricity passing over and through said wires was cut off, that then the body of said Edward Glover was caused to fall from said coping to The earth below, a distance of forty-five (45) feet inore or less, that from the effects of said electric shock and said fall said Edward Glover died. And the plaintiff says that by reason of the negligence of the defendant in disregarding its duties owed to said Edward Glover and by reason of negligence and carelessness of the defendant in allowing, permitting, ordering and sending her said husband to work in an unsafe, dangerous and hazardous place without warning him of the unusual, extraordinary risk and dangers and without providing suitable and proper supervision over said work, her said husband was killed and she was and is deprived of the protection and support of her said husband, and the maintenance of herself has been cast upon her to the great damage and loss of the plaintiff in the sum of twenty-five thousand ($25,000.00) dollars. Wherefore the plaintiff brings this her suit and claims twenty-five thousand ($25,000.00) dollars.”
Pleas of the defendant were filed as follows:
“1. That it is not guilty.
2. That the deceased, Edward G'lover, was guilty of contributory negligence in this, that the deceased failed to walk on said coping carefully and cautiously, by reason of which said failure the deceased lost his balance and to prevent his falling, deceased grasping an electric wire, knowing the same to be charged with electricity and dangerous.
3. That the deceased, Edward Glover, was guilty ot contributory negligence in this, that the deceased failed