Robson v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

California Court of Appeal Sep 17, 1945 No. Civ. No. 14906Published

Before: McComb

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Holding. The court held that a small, shallow depression in a station floor constituted a minor and trivial defect as a matter of law, precluding liability for the plaintiff's injuries. Consequently, the trial court properly granted a directed verdict for the defendants.

Issues

Did the defect in the tile in the doorway constitute a minor defect in the sidewalk?
Was the trial judge correct in determining the triviality of the defect as a question of law rather than a question of fact?

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“reasonable minds could reach only one conclusion, to wit, that the defect in the sidewalk was a minor and trivial one and therefore it was the duty of the trial judge under rule 3, supra, to determine the matter as a question of law.”

“Since the defect was a minor one, defendants were not liable under rule 4, supra, for the unfortunate accident which occurred and the trial judge properly granted their motion for a directed verdict.”

McCOMB, J. From a judgment in favor of defendants predicated upon the granting of their motion for a directed verdict in an action to recover damages for personal injuries, plaintiffs appeal.

On December 17, 1942, at approximately 5 p. m., plaintiff Hable L. Robson, whose husband is her coplaintiff, was in the act of entering the waiting room of the Los Angeles Union Station for the purpose of buying a ticket and then boarding a train from Los Angeles to San Bernardino. A portion of the floor of the premises immediately outside of the entrance to the station was surfaced with red Padre tile in blocks about six inches square. One of these tiles immediately adjacent to the sill of the door by which Mrs. Robson undertook to enter the building was chipped.1 The diameter of the chip was approximately two inches. At its deepest point, which was adjacent to the sill of the door, it was one-fourth inch deep and approximately one inch wide. This chip in the tile had existed two or three months prior to the date of the accident hereinafter described. Plaintiff was wearing shoes with Cuban heels.2 She stepped with her left foot upon the depression in the tile, then took one step into the doorway with her right foot, and while in the act of putting her left foot forward to take another step her foot was caught, which gave her a jerk causing her to fall.

The principal question in this case will be discussed in light of the following general rules which are here applicable.

[761](D A directed verdict is permissible only when, disregarding conflicting evidence, conceding as true all of plaintiffs’ evidence and indulging every reasonable inference favorable to the plaintiffs which may be drawn therefrom, the result is a determination that there is no evidence of sufficient substantiality to support a verdict in favor of plaintiff, if such verdict were given. (Estate of Yale, 214 Cal. 115, 124 [4 P.2d 153]; Estate of Caspar, 172 Cal. 147, 150 [155 P. 631].)

(2) A railroad is not an insurer of the safety of its station premises, but is required to exercise only ordinary care as to invitees. (Falls v. San Francisco & N. P. R. Co., 97 Cal. 114, 119 [31 P. 901], See, also, Sanchez v. Pacific Auto Stages, 116 Cal.App. 392, 396 [2 P.2d 845]; 44 Am.Jur. (1942) § 429, p. 648; 52 C.J. (1931) § 2165, p. 612.)

The rule is accurately stated in 10 Corpus Juris (1917) section 1341, page 916, as follows:

Robson v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

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