Illinois Central Railroad v. Abrams
Illinois Central Railroad v. Abrams
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The declaration in this cause is rather a peculiar one. It seems chiefly to be a declaration framed on the ground that the defendant is liable because it failed to furnish the plaintiff a safe place in which to work; but it contains, also, isolated and-scattered clauses in which it characterizes Eaton as “the superior officer entitled to control and direct the services” of the carpenter gang. And these clauses seem to be some sort of an attempt, in rather an obscure fashion, to hold the defendant liable under sec. 193 of the constitution of 1890 and .§ 3559, Code 1892. And here it is to be noted that the declaration contains only one count. It is not a case of a declaration stating a cause of action in one count one way, and in another count another way. It is the case of a declaration which'states the cause of action in one count two ways, the grounds of liability being also inconsistent with each other. Section 193 of the Constitution was not needed to enforce a common-law liability based on the failure of the defendant to furnish a safe place in which to work; it was adopted, as we have heretofore pointed out, to abrogate the absurdities of the common-law.fellow-servant rule —a wholly distinct matter from that of liability arising out of failure to furnish a safe place in which to work. The one relates to the liability of the master; the fellow-servant rule was used to defeat the liability of the master on the ground that not the master, but a fellow-servant, was liable. But here is a declaration with but one count embracing two wholly independent grounds of liability. This sort of pleading has been declared indefensible in the recent case of So. Ry. Co. v. Bunnell (Ala.), 36 South, 382.
But this is not all. It is manifested from the whole record, and the briefs of counsel, that the case was tried in the -court below chiefly on the ground of liability under sec. 193 of the constitution, though both grounds of liability are shown by the record to have been presented; liability under sec. 193 of the constitution, however, having been presented only on the part of
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Illinois Central Railroad Company v. Arthur Abrams
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Pleadings. Declaration. Antagonistic canses of action. Same count. A declaration, with, but one count, stating two antagonistic causes of action will not sustain a verdict for plaintiff on either cause of action, where the jury were instructed in respect to both and it cannot be ascertained which of the instructions were controlling. 3. Same. Master and servant. Railroads. Fellow-servants. Constitution 1890, sec. 193. Code 1898, ? 3559. A cause of action predicated of the master’s negligence, in failing to furnish his servant a safe place in which to work,'is incon-' sistent and should not be joined in the same count with a cause of action arising from the negligence of a fellow-servant, based, on Constitution 1890, sec. 193, and Code 1892, § 3559, modifying the common-law fellow-servant rule.