Brown v. Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

Citations

• 256 Pa. 403
• 100 A. 970
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 627

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Punching press — Pall of Wade —Unexplained cause — Burden of proof — Judgment for defendant n. o. v.</p> <p>1. In an action by an employee to recover damages for personal injuries, alleged to have resulted from the negligence of his employer, the burden is upon the plaintiff, not only to prove the accident by a preponderance of 'evidence, but also to prove some specific act of negligence which caused it, and the plaintiff’s case fails if he does not show what, if any, act of negligence resulted in his injury.</p> <p>2. In an action against an electric manufacturing company to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff in consequence of the sudden fall of a punching press, whereby three of-plaintiff’s fingers were cut off, the court properly entered judgment for defendant n. o. v. where there was nothing to show what caused the press to fall.</p> <p>3. In such ease it was not material that the person in charge of the press had a general reputation for being careless and of intemperate habits, in the absence of evidence that he was intoxicated or had been drinking on the day of the accident.</p>