Brennan v. Merchant & Co.

Citations

• 205 Pa. 258
• 54 A. 891
• 1903 Pa. LEXIS 557

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Liability of master for act of passion on part of servant — Province of court and jury.</p> <p>A master is liable for the tortious acts of liis servant done in the course of his employment and within the general scope of his authority. His presence or absence when the act is performed, and ’ whether it is done with or without his direct authority, does not affect the question of the master’s liability to the-party injured. If, however, the wrongful act, resulting in the injury, was done by the servant outside of his employment and not in the execution of his master’s business, but to gratify the servant’s personal ill will or malice, the master is not liable, although the servant was at the time in his employment.</p> <p>A master who puts his servant in a place of trust or responsibility, and commits to him the management of his business or the care of his property, is justly held responsible when the servant, through lack of judgment or discretion, or from infirmity of temper, or under the influence of passion aroused by the circumstances and the occasion, goes beyond the strict line of his duty or authority and inflicts an unjustifiable injury upon another, Whether the act is within the scope of the servant’s employment is a question of fact for the jury. Of course, if the facts and the inferences to be drawn from them are not in dispute, the court may determine the question as a matter of law.</p> <p>Where a boy eight years old climbs on the side of a moving truck wagon, and sustains himself by holding to a standard, the driver has a right to remove the boy, but in doing so he must observe necessary precaution so as not to endanger the life or limbs of the child. If he does not observe such precaution, and the child is injured, the employer of the driver may be held liable for the injuries sustained. Thus if the driver turns, and without warning, strikes -the boy with his whip on the hand with which the boy grasped the standar