Bergman

Verlyn Bergman, respondent herein and plaintiff below, was injured while working at the Georgia-Pacific plant in Modesto when the handle came off of a boxcar door he was attempting to close during the course of his employment. The boxcar, No. 61400, was owned by St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company (SSW), appellant herein and defendant below, and delivered to the Georgia-Pacific plant by Modesto & Empire Traction Co. (M&ET), a local short-line railroad. M&ET and appellant were found by a jury to have been negligent on the day of the accident for a total shared liability of $138,715.

Appellant attacks the judgment of negligence as not being supported by substantial evidence. We agree.

On August 15, 1977, the day of the accident, Felix Berbino, a coworker of Bergman’s, opened the doors of three fully loaded boxcars for unloading. Among the boxcars Berbino opened was boxcar No. 61400, the boxcar involved in the accident.

Boxcar No. 61400 contains double doors called “plug doors.” One door has a handle on it that is turned counterclockwise to open the door. As the handle is turned, a series of gears behind the handle manipulate various locking devices on the door and…