Tadd v. San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad
Tadd v. San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff brought this suit to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by Mm through the negligence of defendant. The answer denies the acts of negligence charged in the complaint, and alleges contributory negligence and assumption of risk upon the part of the plaintiff. A trial was had, which resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff in. the sum of two thousand dollars. From the judgment entered on the verdict, defendant appeals.
Plaintiff was sworn as a witness in his own behalf and testified in substance: That on the afternoon of May 6, 19 0Y, when he received the injury complained of, he was in the employ of defendant as a section hand, and had been so employed for several years prior thereto; that at about two o’clock on the afternoon in question, after having performed some other duties in the line of his employment, he joined his foreman, a Mr. Garrett, and another section hand by the name of Johns, who were unloading ties from a box car; that the north end of the car was filled to the door with ties, but to the south Garrett and Johns had removed a quantity of ties, leaving about eight feet of clear space in the car; that the ties were piled crosswise of the car, and in tiers eight feet Mgh; that when he entered the car about half of the first tier of ties remaining therein had been removed; that in removing the remainder of this tier, consisting of about six or seven ties, Garrett, with the use of a pick, pulled them down one at a time as plaintiff and Johns shoved them out of the car; that Garrett then stuck Ms pick in the top of the next tier of ties and pulled them down; that when the ties fell they caught Mm (plaintiff) across the foot; that he got back into the southeast corner of the car, but could not keep out of the way of the falling ties because of the limited amount of dear space in the car.
Johns was called as a witness and testified in part, as follows: “When Tadd (plaintiff) got in the oar there was eight or nine feet of clear space. I told Garrett not to use the pick, but he said he had taken down ties that way and never hurt anyone. I told him I was afraid of those ties coming down on us. I told him he was liable to get hurt. Garrett was in a big rush and hurry, and was vexed. The ties were water-soaked and would weigh one hundred and fifty pounds. We took out a half a tier of ties and then started on another tier. Before pulling them down Garrett said, ‘Look out!’ and I hollered to Tadd, ‘Look out!’ and the first thing I knew Tadd was caught. Garrett -said ‘Stand back boys!’ and I got up on the ties (lying lengthwise of the car in the south end thereof), and was looking for the ties to fall, and the old man got bade in the corner. It was maybe half a minute that elapsed before the ties fell on Tadd. The next thing I heard the old man groaning in the corner of the car. There was a tie lying on his foot and I threw it off. I remonstrated with Garrett about the way he was pulling the ties down in the presence of Tadd, and told
Garrett was then called as a witness by defendant, and testified, in part, as follows: “The car was thirty-six feet long. The doors were six feat wide. While Tadd was working there the doors were entirely open on both east and west sides. There were six or seven ties in the first tier after Tadd came in. I pulled them down with the pick. . . . After that I went to another tier. . . . We unloaded that tier in the sanie way, and then pulled down another tier in the same way with the pide. ... I saw the tie hit Tadd. It hit the floor first and then rolled towards me. I stepped over it and it passed me and on to Tadd’s toe. When the ties were, pulled down Mr. Johms stood on the end of a tie which was running lengthwise from the south end of the car. There were other ties projecting out and Tadd could have gotten on one of them.”
The foregoing is, in substance, the evidence bearing upon the question of defendant’s negligence, the alleged contributory negligence of plaintiff, and assumed risk. When the evidence was all in and both parties had rested, defendant asked the court to peremptorily instruct the jury to return a verdict in its favor. The refusal of the court to so instruct the jury is assigned as error.
Appellant contends that it was entitled to a directed verdict : First, on the ground that there was no* evidence whatever that tended to show negligence on its part; and, second, that the evidence, without conflict, showed that whatever risks and dangers were involved in the unloading of the ties were open and obvious to plaintiff, and that he thereby assumed them.
The only particulars in which respondent claims that appellant was negligent axe: First the way in which the tiers of ties were pulled down by Garrett; and, second, “the unreasonable haste and vexation” with which Garrett pulled them down. The only proof relied upon to show that the method by which the ties were pulled down by Garrett was
The judgment is reversed. Costs of this appeal to be taxed against respondent.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.