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Hernandez v. Paschen Contractors, Inc.

Case Date: 11/15/2002
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-01-1208 Rel

FIFTH DIVISION

November 15, 2002





No. 1--01--1208

 

OMAR HERNANDEZ, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
      Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County.
)
v. ) No. 95 L 4845
)
PASCHEN CONTRACTORS, INC., a Corporation, )
and PASCHEN/RAUSCH, a Joint Venture, ) The Honorable
) Daniel M. Locallo,
      Defendants-Appellees. ) Presiding Judge.


JUSTICE BUCKLEY delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Omar Hernandez appeals from the jury's verdict infavor of defendants Paschen Contractors, Inc., and Paschen/Rausch(hereinafter both defendants shall be referred to a Paschen) onplaintiff's Structural Work Act (740 ILCS 150/0.01 (West 1992))claim. Upon appeal, plaintiff contends the trial court erred in:(1) admitting evidence in a Structural Work Act case that plaintiffacted negligently; (2) admitting evidence that plaintiff receivedwritten rules and warnings concerning ladder safety prior to theaccident; (3) admitting evidence that Paschen delegated itsresponsibility for safety to plaintiff's employer, JWP/Hyre (Hyre);(4) allowing Paschen's expert witness to interpret a contract; (5)barring plaintiff's witness's testimony that the ladder used byplaintiff was "shaky" and "unsteady"; (6) denying plaintiff'smotion for a directed verdict on the issue of whether Paschen hadcharge of the work; and (7) denying plaintiff's motions for ajudgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment n.o.v.) or,alternatively, for a new trial. We affirm.

Paschen was the general contractor for a large renovationproject at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. Paschensubcontracted work on the installation of a fire alarm system toHyre, which employed plaintiff as an apprentice electrician. OnAugust 27, 1994, plaintiff sustained injuries when he fell from aladder while working on the project. Plaintiff filed a claimagainst Paschen, alleging that its violations of the StructuralWork Act (the Act) (740 ILCS 150/0.01 (West 1992))(1) causedplaintiff's injuries.

At trial, plaintiff testified that on the day of his injury,he was an apprentice electrician employed by Hyre. His job thatday was to install a conduit into a box in an electrical closet. The box was located approximately 10