Sweatman v. Pennsylvania Railroad
Sweatman v. Pennsylvania Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The deceased was employed as a foreman in charge of riveters by Gibbs & Hill, contractors, who were engaged by the appellant to construct its electrification system on its main line from Broad Street Station to Paoli. The work of the contractors as it related to the foreman’s duties was located between Eighteenth and Twentieth streets and consisted in the building of foundations for signal towers. The railroad between Broad and Twentieth streets is elevated and the foundations were outside the line of the elevated structures and below the level of the tracks. The deceased, on the night of the accident, had three or four gangs working at different places underneath or below the level of the tracks. It was his duty to inspect the work of these men and see that they were supplied with tools and rivets. In going to the points at which his men were located he could walk along the tracks next to Filbert street, using a boardwalk some three feet in width, or he could walk on the tracks, or cross the tracks. To descend below the tracks he would climb over the railing which runs along the boardwalk
There were three trials in the court below. The first resulted in a disagreement of the jury; the second in a compulsory nonsuit, later taken off; and the third in a verdict for the appellee upon which judgment was entered. The assignments of error complain of the refusal of the court below to direct a verdict for the defendant and to sustain its motion for judgment n. o. v.
We may assume, for the purposes of this case, that the defendant was negligent; just in what particular, does not definitely appear. The deceased was fully acquainted with his working conditions, the boardwalk and the track at the place where he was killed; moreover, he was walking in the direction from which the train, with headlight burning and bell ringing, was approaching. What additional warning he needed, or what good the services of a watchman might have been, does not appear. Since there are many tracks between Eighteenth and Twentieth streets and plaintiff was at liberty to cross
We are of the opinion that the court below erred in not sustaining the defendant’s point for binding instruction. The judgment of the court below is reversed and the record is remitted with direction to enter judgment n. o. v.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sweatman v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company
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- 9 cases
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- Syllabus
- Negligence — Railroads—Foreman of independent contractor— Contributory negligence — Death. 1. In an action against a railroad company, to recover damages for the death of a foreman of an independent contractor run down by a train on an elevated structure of the railroad company, no recovery can be had, where it appears, that the duty of the deceased was to oversee three or four gangs of riveters working at different places underneath the level of the tracks; that in going to the points where the men were working, he could walk along a boardwalk parallel with the tracks, or could walk on the tracks or could cross the tracks; that he had been engaged in this work for three or four months; that on the night of the accident he was walking along the boardwalk, at a point where the planks for a short distance had been torn up and a plank had been placed along the nearest rail; that he could pass around the obstruction by using the plank; that as he was about to step down from the boardwalk to the plank, or, as he was leaning over the side of the boardwalk, he was struck by the head of an approaching engine, with light burning and bell ringing. 2. In such a case the deceased was not so absorbed or taken up with his work, at the time of the accident, as to relieve him from the duty of looking out for his own safety. Van Zandt v. P., B. & W. R. R., 248 Pa. 216, distinguished.