MASON
v.
WACO SCAFFOLD & SHORING CO., INC., ET AL.
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In a personal injury case arising from allegedly defective scaffolding, the trial court denied defendants' motions to dismiss, holding that a plaintiff need not be in privity with equipment manufacturers or lessors to recover for injuries from defective rental equipment, abolishing the privity requirement in bailment-for-hire cases.
The court held that the requirement of privity between an injured party and the seller of personal property is abolished, particularly in bailment-for-hire cases where equipment is rented. The court also found the complaint adequately apprised defendants of the ultimate facts supporting the plaintiff's cause of action.
[1] A bailor for hire may be subject to absolute warranties similar to those imposed on a seller of goods.
[2] The distinction between liabilities in bailment and sale should be eliminated.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the absurdity of requiring privity between the person injured and the seller of the personal property causing the injury”
Establishes that the court views the privity requirement as fundamentally unreasonable
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe plaintiff was injured in connection with scaffolding designed to hold tons of poured concrete. The scaffolding was provided by Waco Scaffold & Sho…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Bailment For Hire cases and more on FLexlaw
The court has considered the arguments and briefs filed by the parties in connection with the several motions to dismiss as filed by the defendants Waco Scaffold & Shoring Co., Inc., Bliss & Laughlin Industries, Inc., American Pecco Corporation and Robert Johnson Corporation.
The Supreme Court of Florida in Toombs v. Fort Pierce Gas Co., 208 So.2d 615, recognized the absurdity of requiring privity between the person injured and the seller of the personal property causing the injury. It did so by using the language — “... and the court there followed cases which ‘reveal a more humane or reasonable trend of decisions in the disposition of such cases.’ ”
This determination is in keeping with an article appearing in 57 Colum. L. Rev. 653, 673-674 — “The expansion of enterprises engaged solely in bailment for hire seems to justify increasing imposition of absolute warranties, at least to the extent that they would be imposed upon a seller of similarly used goods. In addition, reliance is greater than in the typical sale, for it is generally true that the bailee for hire spends less time shopping for the article than he would in selecting like goods to be purchased, and since the item is not one he expects to own, he will usually be less competent in judging its quality.”
The Supreme Court in Matthews v. Lawnlite Co., 88 So.2d 299, determined that a chair was a dangerous device. In McBurnette v. Playground Equipment Corp., 137 So.2d 563, the court determined that a minor not in privity could recover for a defective “sky-rider” purchased for him by his father. It can scarcely be gainsaid that if these two items are dangerous, certainly scaffolding designed to hold tons of poured concrete would be.
*156The growing social awareness of our society coupled with increasing sensitivity to the apparent “unfairness” of some phases of law and the courts’ “straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel” approach, causes the public great dismay. For this court to bury its head in the sand and pretend it did not know what the rest of the world knows in connection with the rental of all manner of equipment in this day and age would be one of the absurdities of which I speak. Law must be as viable as the system in which it finds itself; else the people of this country may take a cue from the ancient Romans when they began electing horses to the Roman Senate.
In this day and age, distinctions between liabilities in bailment and sale should be over. This court so rules.
The court is also of the view the defendants are sufficiently apprised of the ultimate facts upon which the plaintiff grounds his cause.
Consequently, it is ordered and adjudged all motions to dismiss filed herein are denied. Each defendant shall have ten days from the service of this order in which to answer.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Williams v. Surf Props., Inc., 88 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 1956)
- McBURNETTE v. Playground Equip. Corp., 137 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 1962)
- Toombs v. Fort Pierce GAS Co., 208 So. 2d 615 (Fla. 1968)