Galindo

Plaintiff Galindo brought this action for personal injuries received while working as a longshoreman aboard a vessel owned by defendant. Defendant appeals from an order granting plaintiff’s motion for a new trial.

On June 28, 1971, plaintiff was injured while working aboard defendant’s vessel. Plaintiff was unloading boxes of bananas from the ship. The boxes were unloaded by means of a conveyor belt which extended through the hatches of the four decks where the bananas were stored. Plaintiff was working on the “A” deck, which was above the “B,” “C,” and “D” decks. The boxes stored on the “A” deck were lifted onto a “gravity,” a device with rollers on it. Plaintiff’s job was to lift the boxes, which weighed about 45 pounds each, from the gravity and to place them in the conveyor belt.

The conveyor belt consisted of pockets and bars. The safest way of loading a box onto the conveyor belt so that it did not fall out was to rest the box on the bar and let it lean into the pocket. However, it was thought that this method bruised the fruit, and the workers were instructed instead to set the boxes into the pockets. The workers were required to follow instructions. This was not…