Kentucky & Indiana Bridge & Railroad v. Moran
Kentucky & Indiana Bridge & Railroad v. Moran
Opinion of the Court
James Moran, as plaintiff, brought this action against the appellant, the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge & Eailroad Company, to recover damages for a personal injury alleged to have been sustained while in the employ of the appellant as a motorman on one of its electric cars. The injury is charged to have happened in a collision at the intersection of appellant’s tracks with those of the Pennsylvania Company, in the city of Eew Albany.
As the foundation of the action the appellee alleged that the appellant was negligent in failing to supply the car with the proper brake-rod. Under the first paragraph it was alleged that it was necessary for the safe operation of said ear, the safety of the passengers carried therein, and of the employes of the defendant in charge thereof, that said brake-rod should be sound and in good condition and capable of standing the pressure and force of said brakes when applied; that on said day said brake-rod on said car was in a dangerous and defective condition, in this: that said rod contained a break or flaw therein, which rendered the same weak and insufficient for the purpose for which it was intended, and liable to break; that the dangerous and defective condition of said brake was unknown to the plaintiff, but was well known to the defendant, or by reasonable diligence could have been known to said defendant.
The second paragraph is in the identical language of the first, except that the defect in the brake-rod is set out in the following language: “That it was necessary for the safe operation of said car, and the safety of the passengers carried therein and of the employes of the defendant in charge thereof, that said brake-rod should be of sufficient size and thickness to stand the pressure and force of said
A separate demurrer to each of these paragraphs was overruled, the cause put at issue by general denial, and a trial had, resulting in a verdict and judgment in favor of appellee for $1,200.
The first specification of error challenges the sufficiency of the complaint, for want of facts, to constitute a cause of action against appellant.' The complaint seeks to recover on account of the failure of a common-law duty, which the appellant, as master, owed the appellee as its servant.
Appellant relies strongly upon Malott v. Sample, supra. The opinion in that case seems to support the claim for which appellant contends.
Appellee insists that the complaint is not defective as claimed by appellant, and that in an action of this character it is sufficient to allege actual knowledge on the part of the master; citing Malott v. Sample, supra; Consumers
Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Tackett, supra, is expressly against the claim for which appellant contends, and in said case it is held that it is not necessary that the complaint should show that the defective condition of the brake had existed long enough after it was or should have been known to appellant to enable it to repair the same.
We are of the opinion that the weight of the authorities is with appellee. The period of time during which the employer has knowledge of a defective appliance, and what he does or fails to do to remedy the same, during that time, is material as a matter of evidence upon the question of negligence.
Cause transferred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.