Dutcher v. City of Santa Rosa High School District

VAN DYKE, P. J. Vinton H. Butcher and his wife, parents of Paul Butcher, deceased, brought action against the City of Santa Rosa High School District and Rollo Norris, an instructor employed by the school, to recover damages for the death of their son. In another action Dennis Rehe, a minor, by his guardian ad litem brought action against the school district and Norris for damages for personal injuries suffered by him in the same accident. His father sued for expenses incurred. Both boys were members of a class in automobile mechanics which the respondent Norris was teaching. Each complaint charges negligence on the part of Norris. The respondents pleaded the general issue and also contributory negligence.

The evidence showed the following: Respondent Norris had been regularly employed as a teacher of automobile mechanics at the high school for eight years. The course was designed so as to give the students practical experience and was, therefore, conducted as supervised shop work. There were 14 or 15 students in the class and under the supervision and instruction of Norris they worked on automobiles, some of which belonged to members of the class. They disassembled and reassembled, and learned the technique necessary to such work. The class members worked in various areas of the shop and freely moved about the area while in class for the purpose of getting and replacing tools and equipment, for consultation with the instructor, and such like related purposes. Norris gave general instructions on various phases of automobile mechanics and repairs and the students were encouraged to bring their own cars upon which to work, with his help and supervision. Two or three weeks prior to the accident, one of the high school students, Donald Saunders, who was a member of another class, brought in a stripped down automobile which he apparently wished to convert into a [483]racing car by welding thereon so-called “roll over” bars made of iron pipe. He removed the top, windows, seat and gasoline tank and stood the tank against the wall at a distance of from 6 to 8 feet from his car. This position of the tank was observed by Norris on the afternoon before the accident and on the following morning he told Donald to place it on the frame of his car so the janitor would be able to sweep the area where it was resting. However, it does not appear that Donald obeyed this order. Donald was a member of another class in automobile mechanics and it appears was more advanced in that study than were the members of the class which included plaintiff Rehe and the deceased Paul Dutcher. These two boys were in a class which was conducted in the fifth class period between 12:40 and 1:40 p. m. of a school day. Donald’s class met between 9 and 10 o’clock in the morning. On the day of the accident Norris gave Donald some instructions during his class period on the technique of burning a hole in the floor of his car so as to be able to weld a plate to the frame to anchor the “roll over” bars. The operation necessitated the use of a lighted arc torch. Donald did not complete the work that morning. Between 12:40 and 1:40 p. m. he had a class in gymnastics. He answered roll call, then left the class without permission and went to the automobile mechanics shop. He obtained an arc torch from the tool room, which was in charge of one of the students, and with it entered the shop. Several boys in the class, including Paul Dutcher and Dennis Rehe, were standing by a bench where Norris was explaining how to remove valves from an engine. He joined the group for a few minutes, then went over and attached the torch to the hose leading from the oxygen and acetylene tanks which were standing on a movable hand truck. He lit the torch, proceeded to his car, entered it, crouched down in it and began burning a hole in the floor. The explosion of the gas tank from his car occurred a few minutes thereafter. Just before the explosion Paul Dutcher and Dennis Rehe, moving about the shop area, had gathered with several other class members around Donald’s car to see what Donald was doing. They had stopped while on their way to a grinder with some valves. As they turned away to continue to the grinder the explosion occurred and they were encircled with burning gasoline and flames from the exploded tank. Paul Dutcher died from his injuries and Dennis Rehe was seriously injured. The two actions herein were consolidated for trial