Jentick v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

TRAYNOR, J.

The city of San Francisco awarded a contract for the widening of a section of Nineteenth Avenue to Charles Harney. In performing the work, Harney's employees ripped up the pavement with a scarifier and removed the broken fragments with a steam shovel. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company maintained pipes and conduits in the avenue for the supply of gas to abutting residences. Throughout the project the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s employees, including Alvin Parkhurst and John Mc-Grath, marked the location of pipes on the surface of the street, laid temporary surface mains, excavated certain pipes, and made connections or disconnections as the situation required. These operations were performed under the direction of Frank English, the company superintendent of construction.

After scarifying the street surface adjacent to the premises at 1563 Nineteenth Avenue, the scoop of the steam shovel while removing a load of broken pavement, caught and bent a

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feeder pipe maintained by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the supply of gas to those premises. Employees of the company immediately examined the pipe but discovered no leak or break. Some fifteen minutes later, however, a gas explosion occurred within the basement of 1563 Nineteenth Avenue, injuring plaintiffs Jentick and Austin who were standing on the sidewalk in front of the premises. A subsequent examination revealed that the shovel in catching and bending the feeder pipe had torn it loose from the riser pipe serving these premises. Escaping gas from this break caused the explosion.

Plaintiffs brought suit against Harney, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company,' English, Parkhurst, and McGrath, charging them in general terms with negligence. At the conclusion of the trial the court granted a motion for a directed verdict in favor of defendant McGrath. After being fully instructed by the court on the law applicable to the case, the jury returned verdicts of $2,000 and $4,000 in favor of plaintiffs Jentick and Austin respectively against defendant Pacific Gas and Electric Company and of $1 each against defendants English and Parkhurst. Defendant Harney was held not liable. The trial court pointed out to the jury that its verdicts were inconsistent because it could not impose a lesser liability upon English and Parkhurst than upon the other defendant after having found them all negligent. The members of the jury thereupon stated that they were confused as to whether or not they could find a verdict in favor of English and Parkhurst and against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. At this point counsel for the defendant gas company stated to the court: “If the court please, I think the difficulty the jury is having is whether or not they must find a verdict against Parkhurst and English in order to find a verdict against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and I think that should be made clear to them, that they don’t have to find it against the individual. ’ ’ The court then again instructed the jury that the Pacific Gas and Electric Company could be held liable under the doctrine of