Jones v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co.
Jones v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
Action for personal injuries. Plaintiff recovered a judgment on the verdict of a jury in the court below. The defendant has appealed.
The action was brought under the Federal Employers’ liability act. The respondent was employed by the appellant as a car repairer. A carload of saw logs was being transported over the line of the appellant railway. This load of logs had spread so that it became too wide to pass through a subway upon the appellant’s line. It became necessary to rearrange the load of logs by drawing in the stakes upon the sides of the car. In order to do this it was necessary to unload a part of the logs. For this purpose the load of logs was stationed upon a side track and what is called a Marion loader was stationed alongside of the car to be unloaded. The respondent was upon the carload of logs, and his duty was to fasten tongs to the logs upon the car so that the Marion loader might lift the logs from the car. "While engaged in this work, the respondent fell from the car and was injured.
It was maintained by the respondent that the work was done in an unsafe manner by reason of the fact that the Marion loader was placed upon a track at the side of and parallel with the track upon which the loaded car was placed. It was also maintained that the loáded car should have been blocked so that it could not move and that, by reason of the fact that the loaded car was not blocked when unloading the logs, the Marion loader gave the loaded car a sudden jerk which threw the respondent from the car.
The appellant argues that the court erred in denying a motion for a directed verdict at the close of the re
Appellant next argues that the court erred in giving the following instruction:
“In order to charge a servant with assumption of risk, it is necessary that it be made to appear that the servant knew and appreciated the danger from which such injury resulted. Where a servant is ordered to do an act involving peril to himself, the order contains an assurance of safety, and the servant has a right to obey the order unless the danger is so open, obvious and imminent that no person of ordinary care and prudence would encounter it.”
An instruction substantially to this effect was approved in Anustasakas v. International Contract Co., 57 Wash. 453, 107 Pac. 342.
We find no reversible error in the record, and the judgment is therefore affirmed.
Ellis, C. J., Holcomb, and Chadwick, JJ., concur.
Webster, J., took no part.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Louis Jones v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Master and Servant—Injury to Servant—Proximate Cause—■ Question for Jury. Upon an issue as to whether a servant’s fall from a car of logs was due to a sudden jerk of the car, or to his stepping and slipping upon a piece of loose bark, the question is for the jury, where the testimony was conflicting and its credibility was for the jury to decide. Evidence—Expert Evidence—Safe Method of Work. An expert witness may testify as to whether it was a safe method of unloading logs to use a Marion loader placed upon a track at the side of and parallel with the track upon which the loaded car. was placed. Master and Servant—Assumption of Risks—Instructions. Instructions as to a servant’s assumption of risks properly state that it must appear that he knew and appreciated the danger, and that an order-to do an act involving peril to himself is an assurance of safety and may be obeyed, unless the danger is so obvious and imminent that no person of ordinary care would encounter it.