Oberndorf v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.
Oberndorf v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff, intending to become a passenger upon one of the trains of the defendant company was upon the station premises at Columbia avenue. He was walking along a narrow platform which had been provided by the
The learned counsel for the appellant contends that there was no sufficient evidence to warrant a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, for two reasons. 1. That there was no proof that the person whose alleged negligence caused the injury was an employee of the defendant. 2. That the testimony fails to prove that the injury was caused by any negligence, but, on the contrary, shows that it was the result of an unavoidable accident.
The company having, for the purposes of its business, and to inform its patrons as to the time of departure and destination of trains, adopted the device of hanging these metal signs upon a rod and removing the signs after the trains had departed, the putting up and taking down of
Mature consideration of the evidence has led us to the conclusion that the question of the negligence of the man who took down the metal sign was for the jury. He took down the sign with his back toward the narrow lower platform, upon which intending passengers were compelled to approach the ticket office. The evidence indicates that he made no effort to ascertain whether any person was approaching. There was nothing in the evidence to indicate that there was any necessity for his •swinging the sign in the manner in which he did; if there had been any necessity for his so swinging it, then he ought to have looked to see whether any person was approaching before attempting to take it down. The plaintiff testified as-follows: “They lift those signs down, but he gave it a swing, and it went over his shoulder.”
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Oberndorf v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company
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- Syllabus
- Negligence —• Railroads — Passenger —• Station ■ — • Passenger struck by destination sign — Uniformed employee. 1. In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries, the case is for the jury, and a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained, where the evidence shows that the plaintiff, an intending passenger, was required to walk along a narrow platform to reach the ticket office; that while so doing he was struck over the eye by a metal destination train sign which a man in uniform had taken down from a rod where it had been swinging, and without looking to see if anyone was approaching, and without any necessity for so doing, swung it so far over his shoulder that it struck the plaintiff. 2. In such a case, as the railroad company made the putting up and taking down these signs a part of its business, the inference arose that the man who took down the sign, was an employee of the company.