Fandrich v. Allstate Insurance (25 Ill. App. 3d 301, 1974)

Mr. JUSTICE McGLOON

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from an action brought under the Structural Work Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1965, ch. 48, pars. 60 — 69) and common law negligence. The plaintiff, Edward Fandrich, was injured when the boom and jib of a construction crane fell on him, but a jury found for the defendant, Allstate Insurance Company, Inc. Judgment for defendant was entered upon the verdict by the circuit court of Cook County. Plaintiff appeals from the adverse judgment, raising three issues for our consideration: (1) whether a venireman insured by the named defendant is qualified to act as a juror; (2) whether the plaintiff was prejudiced by the court’s admission of certain evidence and exclusion of other evidence; and (3) whether the verdict was contraiy to the manifest weight of the evidence.

We affirm.

The evidence at trial revealed that on February 23, 1966, plaintiff was employed as a journeyman carpenter by W. E. O’Neil & Co., a general contractor engaged by the Allstate Insurance Company to construct Allstate’s new home office complex in Northbrook, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. During the course of his work at the Allstate site, Mr. Fandrich sustained severe injuries when he was struck by the 110-foot-long boom and attached jib of a 50-ton truck crane which toppled over. Immediately preceding the incident, the wheeled crane was being operated on a dirt road on the construction site, and was in the process of attempting to traverse a slight incline which was slippery and mushy due to a thawing of the frozen February soil. The crane driver encountered a lack of traction, so he backed the crane up and then proceeded forward. The wheels still slipped and spinned in the soil, so he repeated the process with little success. During the third backing up maneuver, the crane capsized.

Eyewitnesses testified that the boom was at an angle of between 50° and 70° and that an empty bucket used to transport concrete, weighing between 700 and 800 pounds, was suspended from the crane and was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Testimony was given that there was not a signalman on the ground to direct the crane driver. 'Other testimony was elicited by plaintiff that timber mats were not used :to improve the cranes traction on the slippery ground. Plaintiff’s theory