Christian v. Irwin

Citations

• 125 Ill. 619

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and servant—respondeat superior. Where the plaintiff has been injured by the gross misconduct of the defendant’s servant while engaged in the service of his principal in driving a wagon and team along a street, in driving into and colliding with the wagon and team of the plaintiff passing along the highway, and the plaintiff, at the time of the injury, was observing due care for his personal safety, the master will be liable for the injury.</p> <p>2. Appeal—whether damages are excessive, as a question of fact—the rule of damages, a question of law. Whether the damages awarded in a case are excessive or not, is a question of fact, not reviewable in this court. The amount of damages a party may have sustained from a personal injury, is a question of fact, but the rule for ascertaining the damages is a question of law.</p> <p>3. Instruction—omission in one cured by another embodying the principle. In an action to recover for a personal injury caused by the misconduct and negligence of the defendant’s servant, it was objected that the first and second of the plaintiff’s instructions omitted to present the question whether the plaintiff exercised ordinary care to avoid the injury. The third instruction of the series, however, contained the principle which was wanting in the two preceding ones, and this was held to obviate the objection, and that there was no occasion for stating the doctrine insisted upon in the first and second of the series.</p>