McGrady v. Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railway Co.
McGrady v. Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by an employe against the employer railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries caused by the negligence of another employee in placing a hand car upon the railroad track. A demurrer to the declaration was sustained and final judgment for the defendant was rendered to which judgment the plaintiff took writ of error.
The first count of'the declaration alleges “that while the plaintiff was in the performance of his duty” as section hand in assisting in running a certain hand car of the railroad company, one other section hand “at the moment when said (hand) car was being lifted as afore
The question to be determined is whether the allegations sufficiently show an injury to an employee of the railroad company “caused by negligence of another employee” “by the running of the locomotives or cars, or other machinery of such company,” within the meaning of section 3150 of the General Statutes of 1906, which changes the common law rule of non-liability of the master for injuries to employees caused by the negligence of other employees to which the employer dos not proximately contribute.
While statutory enactments in derogation of the common law should not be extended further than the words used will fairly warrant, yet in construing a statute che valid intent of the lawmaking power as gathered from the language and purpose of the act, is the guiding star, and when the intent is ascertained, it should be made effective as being the essence of the law.
There is no contention that a hand car used by a railroad company upon its tracks is not a “car” or “machinery” within the meaning of the quoted statute. That it is, see Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Ryland, 50 Fla. 190, 40 South. Rep. 24; Ryland v. Atlantic Coast Line
The object designed to be attained by the statuie is the protection to railroad employees engaged in dangerous employments incident to the actual physical operation or. running of railroad locomotives, cars or other machinery of a railroad company. The language of the statute, to-wit: “the running of the locomotives,” &c., considered with reference to the object designed to be accomplished is intended to cover and include such hazardous tasks as are a part of the actual use for transportation purposes “of the locomotives or cars, or other machinery of such company.” If this is not the intent-of the statute, then an injury caused by the operation of a locomotive or car while it is standing on the track or the movement of it while it is being removed from or put on the track while such locomotive or car is in actual use for transportation purposes, is not included. Such a narrow construction could not have been intended, for so construed the statute would not accomplish the purpose designed, of affording protection and relief to employees engaged in the well known hazardous employments of the movements of railroad cars and machinery that are being actually used for transportation.
The allegation is that the duty of the plaintiff, an employee of the defendant railroad company, was to assist “in running a certain hand car or machinery used by the defendant for the purpose of conveying section hands and such tools as they used to and from their work on defendant’s road bed and track and to transport material for such repairs as might be necessary then and
The holding in St. Louis & S. F. R. Co. v. Cooksey, 70 Ark. 481, 69 S. W. Rep. 259, that proof of an injury by escaping steam from a locomotive while standing on the railroad track, does not raise a presumption of negligence under a statute making railroad campanies “responsible for all damages to persons or property done or caused by the running of trains,” is not controlling-authority here.
As the statute authorizes a recovery “for damages done to persons,” mere allegations in some of the counts that the negligence was “wilful and wanton” do not render the counts subject to demurrer. The action is brought under the statute to recover damages for a personal injury caused by the negligence of a co-employee and the several counts state an injury to the plaintiff, an employee of the defendant railroad company, caused by the negligence of a co-employee while both employees were engaged in performing a service for the defendant within the scope of their employment, which service was to assist in running a hand car, the injury occuring while the employees were actually replacing a hand car on the
The judgment is reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.