Jaques v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

VALLEE, J. Appeal by plaintiff from an adverse judgment entered on a unanimous jury verdict in an action for damages for alleged false imprisonment.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to defendant-respondent, the facts are these: Plaintiff’s husband, Elmo Jaques, conducted a back-yard machine shop in the garage of his home where he manufactured small wire brushes. The brushes were sold to defendant Firestone and used in the fuel cell division to clean the threads of bolt holes. Elmo Jaques was assisted in manufacturing the brushes by Frank Bowen, Robert Hatherst, and plaintiff. Plaintiff was a supervisor in the fuel cell division of Firestone about six years before the events in question. Frank Bowen was a foreman in the same division. Plaintiff had authority to requisition wire brushes from her husband. She was the only one who delivered any of the brushes to Firestone. She brought them in an ordinary paper sack and deposited them in the storeroom from which they were withdrawn by plaintiff and her cosupervisors. She delivered about 2,000 brushes twice a month. Until about October 1, 1954, plaintiff requisitioned about 100 brushes daily from her husband for her department. During the month preceding October 29, 1954, the number of brushes requisitioned by her from her husband “jumped” to about 300 brushes daily.

The increase caused an investigation to be made to ascertain what was happening to the brushes. About October 14 Davidson, assistant chief of plant protection, was instructed to conduct the investigation. Investigating the discard cans, he found no evidence of brushes being thrown away or misused. About October 15, he marked some 6,000 brushes in the storeroom with an invisible phosphorescent material which showed only in black light. About October 22, 1954, two bags of 1,000 brushes each were delivered by plaintiff to the storeroom in the fuel cell division. Davidson found that 500 brushes in one of the bags showed the phosphorescent marks, “showed [634]evidence of having been in the plant, removed and brought back to the plant.”

Plaintiff’s husband, having received an order for 800 brushes on October 28,1954, to be delivered October 29, called Young, Firestone’s production manager, on the 28th and told Young of the 800-brush order. Young told him they had thousands of brushes in the store and could not imagine why they needed more but to send them if they had been ordered. These brushes, when delivered by plaintiff on the 29th, were checked by Davidson who found no markings on them. Plaintiff’s husband testified that on the morning of the 29th because of the conversation with Young he was suspicious “that something was phony,” and he told plaintiff that morning that something “irregular or fishy” was going on.