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