Alston v. Stewart

Citations

• 2 Monag. 51
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 1348

Syllabus

<p>Where a contractor for stone-work on a building obtains permission from the contractor for brick-work to use a scaffold erected for the bricklayers, and is at the same time notified, through his agents, that the scaffold must be strengthened before being used for raising stone, it is negligence on the part of the contractor for stone-work not to strengthen the scaffold, and if it breaks under the weight of a stone, and an employee of the bricklayer is injured, the contractor for stone-work is liable in damages to the injured party. The competency of the defendants’ employees is immaterial. .</p> <p>Where a witness for plaintiff testified that the defendant had no special right to use the scaffold, it was inadmissible to ask, on cross-examination, if, by a usage of trade, the contractor for stone-work had a right to use the bricklayers’ scaffold, as there could be no such usage as would justify the use of insufficient scaffolding.</p> <p>In an action for damages for personal injuries, it is incompetent for the defendant to offer evidence in mitigation of damages that the plaintiff’s doctor’s bill and expenses were paid by a beneficial association.</p>