Pfeifer v. Allegheny Steel Co.
Pfeifer v. Allegheny Steel Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff recovered a verdict and judgment was entered thereon; the defendant has appealed. The only errors assigned are (1) the refusal of binding instructions for the defendant, and (2) the refusal of judgment n. o. v. The following excerpt from the opinion of the court below gives a fair summary of the material facts and amply vindicates the rulings of the trial judge: “Plaintiff, who was forty-one years old last May (1912), entered the employ of the defendant as a crane operator on February 1,1910, and continued in such employment until Friday, August 12, 1910, when he received the injuries for which compensation is asked. The crane operated by plaintiff traveled on a runway attached to two parallel steel girders about 175 yards in length,
After an examination of the testimony, we agree with the disposition of this case in the Common Pleas, and since that court has so well stated its attitude on the controlling issues, but little need be said here. It may be, as contended by the appellant, that the foreman had no authority to bind his employers to make such a material change in the crane as the construction of a platform for the plaintiff to work upon; but it is not necessary to discuss that point, for it will be observed that the trial court assumed no such position in sustaining the verdict. The evidence was ample to support a finding that the foreman had power and authority to attend to the drum and to have the dangerous accumulation of grease removed, and the plaintiff was at least justified in relying on his promise to that extent; the fact that he continued at work under these circumstances did not constitute an assumption of risk (Foster v. National Steel Co., 216 Pa. 279; Glass v. College Hill Boro., 233 Pa. 457, and cases there cited). The evidence was not
The assignments are overruled and the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Negligence — Master and servant — Defective machinery — Foreman — Vice-principal—Assumption of rislc — Contributory negligence — Case for jury. 1. A foreman of a steel company who gives all orders to persons employed in and about certain cranes, who has full charge of both employees and machinery and whose acts, in employing and discharging men though reported to the superintendent, always receive the superintendent’s approval, is a vice-principal to the extent that he is the proper person to be notified of defects in said cranes and in the appliances connected therewith. 2. It is not an assumption of risk to continue work in and about machinery having certain defects and made dangerous by the accumulation of grease, where the foreman who has been notified of the conditions of the machinery, has told the workman to continue his work, and that the condition would be remedied in a few days. 3. In an action of trespass to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that plaintiff, a crane operator, was operating a crane traveling on a run attached to parallel steel girders at a height of twenty-five or thirty feet above the ground; that while so engaged a part of the machinery broke, requiring plaintiff to walk along the steel girder to a drum, also a part of the machinery, and remove a broken strap; that while so engaged plaintiff’s foot slipped in consequence of an accumulation of grease on the girder, and he fell to the ground sustaining the injuries complained of. It further appeared that defendant’s foreman, who was a vice-principal, had been notified by plaintiff of the condition of the drum causing leakage of grease in large quantities onto the girder, and had told plaintiff to continue his work, and that the defects would be remedied. Held, that the doctrine of assumption of risk did not apply, and that the questions of defendant’s negligence and plaintiffs contributory negligence were for the jury.-