DocketNumber： Civ. 25284
Judges： Shinn, Files
Filed Date： 5/18/1962
Status： Precedential
Modified Date： 10/19/2024
The present action is hy the widow and children of Donald Eugene Garber against The Prudential Insurance Company of America for the wrongful death of Mr. Garber, who was drowned while preparing to take underwater photographs for the use of Prudential. The material facts alleged in the complaint are that Prudential, hy its agents, engaged the services of Garber, who was inexperienced in underwater photography, to take underwater pictures for use in a company magazine published by Prudential; as an integral part of the engagement of Garber’s services Prudential provided instruction, “made the arrangements for the taking of said underwater photographs in the Pacific Ocean . . . and that said defendant so negligently and carelessly failed to provide said decedent, Donald Eugene Garber, with adequate and necessary boats, life saving equipment and any other safety devices, so that as the proximate result of said negligence and carelessness of said defendant, the decedent, Donald Eugene Garber, was drowned at the time and place herein above mentioned.” Defendant answered, denying negligence and alleging as separate defenses contributory negligence and unavoidable accident. The pretrial statement of the parties was made a part of the pretrial order wherein it was stated that plaintiffs contended defendant was negligent in failing to properly instruct Mr. Garber in the use of skin-diving equipment, in failing to select a safe place to skin dive and in failing to provide him with adequate instructions and safeguards. Defendant contended there was no negligence, no proof of proximate cause, and urged the defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk. Upon the first trial verdict and judgment were in favor of plaintiffs, but defendant’s motion for a new trial was granted. Upon the second trial plaintiffs prevailed, and defendant has appealed from the judgment and from the order denying its motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
The grounds of appeal are (1) there was no evidence that Prudential, through any of its agents, acting within the scope of his or her authority, undertook to provide Mr. Garber with instruction or safety devices, or otherwise prepare him for underwater photography, and had no duty so to do; (2) no act
There was no conflict in the evidence with respect to the material facts. Once a month defendant published a company magazine called “Scene” under the direction of Mr. William Peterson, Cordelia Elizabeth Gumpertz and Sally Curtiss. The activities of employees of the company were frequently featured in the magazine. Sally Curtiss, being informed that Harris Bakken and Andre Ward, who were parttime employees of Prudential, were accomplished skin divers, wrote a story which called for underwater photography. She learned from the young men that they were willing to participate in the project. They would be photographed using “scuba” (self-contained breathing apparatus). Knowing that Mr. Garber was an expert photographer whose services Prudential had contracted for from time to time, Sally Curtiss contacted him, explained what she wished and solicited his services. There was a meeting of Sally, Garber and Ward. It was discussed that Garber had had no scuba or skin-diving experience and had no equipment. Ward offered to obtain the necessary equipment. Previous to this meeting Ward had learned from Sally that Garber had had no experience in skin-diving. The matter was discussed at the meeting. Garber asked whether Ward could teach him what he needed to know and Ward said that he could. Garber then met with Mrs. Gumpertz and Mr. Stewart, Peterson’s superior, and, as Sally testified, they “went ahead and discussed financial arrangements and what would have to be done to get it all wrapped up and taken care of.” It was arranged with Mr. Stewart that the company would pay $15 as rental of a watertight camera ease. Peterson was advised of this and of the arrangement for Ward and Bakken to furnish the remainder of the equipment, which consisted of a skin-diving suit, a breathing tube, belt containing lead weights, face mask, aqualung and fins. All this equipment was provided through Ward and Bakken. Garber provided a camera and Prudential paid the rental of a watertight carrying ease. Ward and Bakken took Garber to a heated swimming pool one evening, where they used the equipment for about an hour and a half. Garber’s belt had 2 to 4 pounds of weight attached. The following day they went to the beach adjacent to Point Dume. They entered the water and swam for half or three quarters of an hour, using
The skin-diving suit provided for Garber is known as a dry suit. It is skintight and drawn in at the neck, wrists and ankles to exclude water. There is always some leakage. It has no buoyancy. The suits used by Bakken and Ward are known as wet suits. They contain a layer of sponge rubber beneath the outer covering and are not watertight, but they are buoyant and will keep the wearer afloat. It is customary in scuba diving to use a belt containing lead weights, with a release which enables the wearer to release the belt instantly. The snorkel fits behind the head of the diver, attached to a face mask with a breathing tube held in the mouth. The tube is about a foot long, and when in use by a diver swimming just underneath the surface, about 4 inches of the tube extends above the surface of the water. The remainder of the breathing equipment consists of a tank and a bottle containing air under pressure; the diver switches to the tank when he descends to a depth that renders the snorkel unusable. The tank also has a quick-release mechanism. In order to make use of the tank and the snorkel in a proper manner the diver must keep the tank below or even with the surface, which necessitates his swimming just below the surface. Although it is comparatively neutral as to weight when fully submerged, the tank becomes dangerously heavy when the diver attempts to swim on the surface. Lead weights are used to facilitate reaching desired depths. Bakken and Ward with their wet
The primary contention of defendant is that it assumed no duty to Garber, since none of its employees was acting within the scope of his or her authority in representing to Garber that Ward and Bakken would give him the instruction and the necessary preparation for use of the scuba equipment. The contention is, in final analysis, that Sally Curtiss had no authority to act in the unusual and unexpected situation that developed in the course of her work and that she exceeded her authority because she was not employed to furnish the facilities a photographer might need in order to take underwater pictures. The problem is not as simple as that.
Defendant argues that Garber was an independent contractor, and that it was his duty alone to prepare himself for the work he agreed to do. Plaintiffs do not deny that Garber was an independent contractor, but they maintain that defendant, by its agents, assumed a duty that otherwise would have rested upon him; this was a duty to provide equipment and training; Sally Curtiss and her superiors undertook to provide the equipment, some of it borrowed and some rented by Prudential; and Sally Curtiss, with the assistance of her subagents, Ward and Bakken, under her implied authority, undertook to provide the training.
In reviewing the verdict with respect to the matter of authority, we have to determine whether it was a reasonable inference that it was reasonably to be anticipated that Sally Curtiss, if confronted with the conditions that developed, would use the means that were at hand in order to accomplish the main purpose of her employment. Two juries and the judge in the second trial have answered this question in the affirmative. If we should believe that the conclusion reached by the jury in the second trial was one that would not be acceptable to reasonable minds we would have to hold it to be erroneous as a matter of law. If we should believe the question to be one upon which reasonable minds might differ we would have to consider ourselves bound by the verdict upon that issue, even though we might entertain an opinion different from that of the jury.
We must look first to the nature of Sally’s duties. She was a staff writer for the magazine. She prepared an article on underwater diving, to be illustrated with pictures. The article
When she was informed by Garber that he knew nothing about underwater diving she had already arranged with Ward and Bakken that they would cooperate in getting the pictures. They were available and willing to give Garber the training he needed and were competent to give it. What then was Sally expected to do under the circumstances? She could have called off her arrangement with Garber and endeavored to find a photographer who was experienced in underwater photography. She could have told Garber that he would have to go to a professional for his training. She could have given up the project altogether. It is plain to be seen now, in view of what happened, that she should not have trusted the young men to give Garber training in the use of the equipment, but the question is whether she acted under the conditions that had arisen in a manner that would reasonably have been expected of her in the performance of her duty to provide material for the magazine. Defendant has not told us what other course she should have taken or why she should have taken it, nor has it been pointed out wherein she acted unreasonably or wherein she turned aside from her duty. It is suggested that the young men were merely accommodating Garber in offering their services in obtaining the equipment and giving him the training. Clearly this was not so. Their participation was only a step in carrying out Sally’s project for the use and benefit of Prudential. They had no interest in Garber other than to make use of his services. The fact that he might in the future benefit from the training was quite
To say that Sally exceeded her authority is to say that with the means at hand to prepare Garber to furnish the pictures she needed she should not have made use of those means, however convenient they were and however adequate they appeared to be. Everything was working well for her and she had no reason to doubt that Garber would receive the necessary instruction in the use of the equipment, and that the project would be a success.
It was Sally’s duty to provide articles of interest for the employees concerning their hobbies and activities. The idea of an article on diving with “scuba” or other underwater equipment was suggested to Sally when she learned that Ward and Bakken were skilled in the use of such equipment. It was a popular sport and a promising subject for an article that would be of interest to readers of the magazine. There were no defined limits to the authority of Sally in her efforts to unearth interesting material for her articles. She had no routine to follow. Each day might bring her into contact with conditions that had not been encountered before. There was no usual pattern for her activities. She had to meet conditions as they arose. She was not relieved of a duty to carry on her work every time she found herself in strange and unexpected conditions. She had authority to do what she was endeavoring to do, that is to say, to get an illustrated article for the magazine and to engage the services of Garber for that purpose. Everything she did was directed toward performance of a duty she owed her employer and exclusively for its benefit. It did not occur to Sally’s superiors that she was exceeding her authority. No doubt, if everything had turned out as expected Sally would have been called a smart girl and would have received congratulations for the way she had managed to get things done with a minimum of expense to the company.
An agent has implied authority to use any means that are incidental to and reasonably proper in the performance of an assigned task. (Vind v. Asamblea Apostolica etc. Christo Jesus, 148 Cal.App.2d 597, 604 [307 P.2d 85] ; Tarasco v. Moyers, 81 Cal.App.2d 804. 810 [185 P.2d 86] ; Pacific Indem. Co. v. Industrial Acc. Com., 26 Cal.2d 509, 513 [159 P.2d 625] ; Bethlehem Steel Co. v. Industrial Acc. Com., 70 Cal.App.2d 382, 387-388 [161 P.2d 59] ; Employers’ etc. Corp. v. Industrial Acc. Com., 37 Cal.App.2d 567, 573-574 [99 P.2d
If an employee is not otherwise bound by specific instructions he may exercise his discretion as to the “time, place and manner of performing” his duties. (Dauphine v. Industrial Acc. Com., 57 Cal.App.2d 949, 953 [135 P.2d 644].)
The above cases and others we shall mention are not cited as factual precedents for our holding. They merely state general rules, with respect to which there is no uncertainty.
The more cases that are examined the more clearly it appears that the facts to be considered can seldom be classified or patterned so as to have value as legal precedent. And it would be difficult to find a set of facts more odd and puzzling than those we have to consider. They present a factual situation the like of which has not been found in any previously decided case, and in all probability is unlikely to be duplicated hereafter. No case has been found in which any court has decided upon facts at all similar to those of our case that the question whether the acts of an agent were in excess of his authority was one of law.
If the principal acts of Sally Curtiss were within her authority she also had authority to appoint Ward and Bakken as her subagents, and in earrjdng out the purposes of the appointment they represented defendant in like manner as Sally did and to the same extent. (Civ. Code, §§ 2349, 2351.) If Prudential, through Sally Curtiss and her subagents, undertook to train the photographer, even though voluntarily, it had the duty to do so with reasonable care. (See Johnston v. Orlando, 131 Cal.App.2d 705, 709 [281 P.2d 357] ; Valdez v. Taylor Automobile Co., 129 Cal.App.2d 810, 817 [278 P.2d 91].)
The rule of incidental authority comes into play when in the performance of his duty the agent encounters conditions that are not usually met in the services he is employed to render. He does not lose his authority whenever he encounters unexpected conditions but may proceed in a manner that
The most important question always is whether the agent was engaged strictly in an endeavor to bring about a result for which his services were engaged. If he was, the principal should not be permitted to escape responsibility upon the plea that his agent acted in some condition that arose which was out of the ordinary and unexpected.
We are persuaded that the evidence supports the conclusions of the triers of fact. We do not say the jurors could not reasonably have concluded that Sally exceeded her authority, but only that we believe the conclusion they reached was a reasonable one. A contrary conclusion would have amounted to denial of the authority of Sally to act in unusual and unexpected circumstances that confronted her in the performance of a task fully within her authority. Clearly the facts were not such as to compel that conclusion.
If there is support in the evidence for a reasonable inference that the act of the agent was within the scope of his authority, a finding of that fact will not be disturbed on appeal. (De Rosier v. Crow, 184 Cal.App.2d 476 [7 Cal.Rptr. 540] ; Leming v. Oilfields Trucking Co., 44 Cal.2d 343 [282 P.2d 23, 51 A.L.R.2d 107]; Boynton v. McKales, 139 Cal.App.2d 777 [294 P.2d 733].) “The question whether or not the act done is so different from the act authorized that it is not within the scope of the employment is decided by the court if the answer is clearly indicated; otherwise, it is decided by the jury.” (Rest. 2d Agency, § 288, com. d, p. 505.)
When there is substantial evidence that an employee encountered unusual and unexpected conditions while acting strictly in the line of his duty, that he acted reasonably, in good faith, and with the sole purpose of advancing the interests of his employer in achieving a result which was the sole purpose of his employment, and that he did not violate his instructions, the question whether he exceeded his authority must be passed upon by the trial judge, or the jury under proper instructions, as one of fact. This is just such a ease.
The crucial implied finding that Sally Curtiss possessed the authority to arrange for Garber’s training was reviewed and approved by the trial judge upon the motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Although the factual conclusions of a jury carry no more weight than those of trial judges, the fact should not be overlooked that two juries have found that Sally Curtiss acted within her implied authority.
The most that can be said in criticism of Sally’s actions is that she was over zealous in the interests of her employer. That a tragedy occurred, instead of the success she anticipated, would be a poor reason for repudiating her actions.
The next question is whether Prudential’s agents were guilty of negligence. It is clear that they were. Without giving Garber any training whatever in the use of the equipment under conditions he would encounter in the ocean, they permitted him to put on all the gear, including 8 or 9 pounds of lead, and to swim so far away from shore that he became exhausted and was unable to return.
Rimmon Pay, an expert and instructor in scuba, with years of underwater experience, testified for plaintiffs. He was familiar with books on safety procedures and customs in scuba, and was also familiar with accepted local customs and practices. Robert M. Burnside also testified for plaintiffs as an expert. He had extensive experience as a lifeguard, in scuba diving and in teaching the subject. These two witnesses testified at length, and were in agreement as to the essentials of preparation for underwater work; the most important safety measure is a float of some sort to grasp if you get into trouble; an inner tube would suffice; if you use a wet suit it is necessary to put on weights; if you drop the weights the suit will keep you up; it is highly important that you should not be over-weighted ; if you are overweighted and in a dry suit the possibility of drowning is very great, but this is not true if you are in a wet suit; it is important for the diver to determine the weight he should put on after testing his buoyancy in his suit; this must be done in the water; it cannot be done on dry land. In the water, weights should be added until the person can sink or float at will. A requirement of the utmost importance is complete familiarity with the equipment under working conditions, so that the user will know what the equipment is
It is clear that Mr. Garber was wholly unprepared to engage in scuba diving. Without repeating the essentials of training and preparation, it is sufficient to say that they were sadly neglected. It was clearly established that Garber’s inability to use the equipment successfully was attributable only to his lack of training. The failure of his instructors to give him that training was a negligent breach of the duty they had assumed.
Defendant’s further contention that Mr. Garber voluntarily assumed the risk cannot be sustained. Counsel, of course, are well aware of the rule stated in Bilyeu v. Standard Freight Lines, 182 Cal.App.2d 536 [6 Cal.Rptr. 65] and Hayes v. Richfield Oil Corp., 38 Cal.2d 375 [240 P.2d 580], that before one can be held to have assumed the risk of danger of an undertaking it must be shown that he had knowledge and appreciation of the danger, Defendant says it is common knowledge that swimming in deep water involves danger, and that people who take to the water voluntarily assume that risk, but this is not so simple a ease. The danger that Garber faced was not merely in going for a swim, but in undertaking to swim loaded with equipment he had never used before and which could only be safely used by those who understood it and were trained to make proper use of it. Essential facts upon which the case of plaintiffs depends are that Garber had not been informed and did not know of the danger he was facing in swimming far from shore, carrying strange and heavy equipment, the use of which required knowledge and skill which he did not possess. When Ward and Bakken believed he was sufficiently trained Garber had
It is urged by defendant that Garber was guilty of contributory negligence in undertaking to swim with scuba when he knew he had insufficient training. There would have been substance to this argument if Garber had had no training whatever, but the defense is unavailing in view of the fact he had received instruction from acknowledged experts and the training which they deemed to be sufficient. It was understood that Ward would stay with Garber; Bakken testified they believed Garber would be safe because he would be under their protection. The ocean was smooth, nothing hazardous was to be undertaken, and no difficulty was anticipated. Clearly the question of contributory negligence was for the jury-
The judgment and order are affirmed.
Ford, J., concurred.