Seitzman

Plaintiff was an employee of a firm which occupied a portion of the sixth floor of a building owned by defendant. On March 21, 1927, coming into the building on his way to work, he found, as he said, the elevator doors open, and the light being dim he stepped through the doors and fell into the basement, injuring himself. His employer was insured under the Workmen’s Compensation, Insurance and Safety Act by the Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, and an award having been made by the Industrial Accident Commission of the state in favor of the employee and against said insurance carrier for the injuries thus sustained, the latter intervened in the instant action, praying that it might have a first lien on any recovery by plaintiff for the sums expended by it under said award. The case was tried before a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $15,000. From the judgment entered on said verdict defendant has appealed. No brief on appeal was filed by plaintiff, but the intervener has responded to appellant’s brief.

The amended complaint, and also in effect the complaint of intervener, alleges that on the day in question “the defendant so negligently and…