Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Sledge

Citations

• 68 Kan. 321
• 74 P. 1111
• 1904 Kan. LEXIS 109

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COUBT.</p> <p>1. Damages — Assumption of Risk — Servant Relieved by Promise of Master. The general rule is that a servant who continues the use of a defective appliance after notice of its defective condition assumes the risk of such service with its increased danger; but where the servant continues the use of such defective appliance because of a promise on the part of the master that the defect will be repaired, the master himself assumes the added risk, and the servant is relieved therefrom for a reasonable length of time thereafter.</p> <p>2. - Cause of Defect Immaterial. This rule obtains as well where the defective condition is the result of the servant’s own carelessness or negligence as where it results from other causes.</p> <p>3. -Recklessness of Servant is a Question for the Jury. This rule finds an exception in cases where the defect is so obvious, and the danger therefrom so imminent, that none but a reckless man would continue the service. This is a question, however, for the jury, and their verdict thereon, under proper instructions, is conclusive.</p> <p>4. -§7000 for an Arm is Not Excessive. The plaintiff was a young man, twenty-three years old, earning from- seventy-five dollars to eighty dollars per month. By the injury complained of he lost his left arm above the elbow. Held, that a judgment for $7000 is not so excessive as to require a reversal.</p>