Hardy v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Hardy v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiff brought suit under the Federal Employers’ Liability act to recover compensation for the death of her husband, Wyatt Hardy. He was a member of a gang of bridge repairers, employed by the defendant company on its main line tracks. On the day of the accident he, and the other members of the gang, bad gone to Wharton, New Jersey, where they were engaged in making repairs to a bridge located at that place. In pre
The trial resulted in a verdict in, favor of the plaintiff, and from the judgment entered thereon the defendant appeals.
The first ground of appeal is directed at the instruction of the court to the jury with relation to' the effect of the federal statute upon the doctrine of assumption of risk. The alleged erroneous statement of the law upon this point was as follows: “The common law doctrine of assumed risk arising out of the negligence of fellow servants has been abolished. If you find the foreman was under a duty to give a warning, and did not give it, that was one of the risks Mr. Hardy did; not assume.” The contention of counsel is based upon the theory that the doctrine thus laid down by the trial court is in direct opposition to certain decisions of the United States Supreme Court to which he refers us. Our reading of these decisions leads us to the conclusion that they do' not justify counsers contention. And if there is any doubt as to the effect of these decisions (and we think there is not) that doubt would be cleared up by the latest pronouncement of that court upon the subject. In the case of Reed Administratrix, v. Director
The instruction to the jury in the present case, with relation to this doctrine, although laying down a rule somewhat broader than that stated in the cited decision, was, nevertheless, a correct statement of the law of the case, for there was nothing in the proofs which was even suggestive that Hardy could have foreseen or expected that the foreman -of the gang would fail to perform- the duty resting upon him of giving a warning to Hardy of the approach of the eastbound freight.
The next ground of appeal is tha-t the court improperly refused to charge the following request submitted by the defendant: “Under the evidence in this case, Hardy was not in the discharge of his duties when he placed himself in the position of the probable danger which resulted in his death.” We think this request was properly refused, for the reason that whether, under all the proofs in. the case, the decedent was in the discharge of his duties at the time he met his death was a matter of fact for the jury to decide, and not a matter of law to be determined by the court.
Tho only other ground of reversal is that the court erroneously refused to charge that “Even if you should’ find there was a custom of the foreman to warn his men, as contended for by the plaintiff, I charge you you cannot find the rail
The judgment under review will be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ELIZABETH O. HARDY, ADMINISTRATRIX v. DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY
- Status
- Published