Davenport v. F. B. Dubach Lumber Co.

Citations

• 112 La. 943
• 36 So. 812
• 1904 La. LEXIS 494

Syllabus

<p>COMPROMISE — VALIDITY—EVIDENCE—INJURY TO EMPLOYS — PROXIMATE CAUSE.</p> <p>1. A young negro man employed by a lumber company as a brakeman on a railroad run by the company in connection with its mill lost both his legs as the result of being run over while coupling a locomotive to a train of log cars. While he was yet under the influence of opiates, and hardly knew what he was doing, and in great pain, either just before or just after the amputation of his legs for the second time, he was induced by two white men — one the general manager of the lumber mill and the other the agent of an insurance company holding an employer’s accident policy on the lumber company — -to accept $50 in full of all claims for damages he might have against the lumber company growing out of the accident. Held, under the circumstances, the compromise was not the free and voluntary act of the wounded man, and must be set aside.</p> <p>2. Where a brakeman is run over in consequence of his having- stumbled and fallen while attempting to couple the locomotive to a car by holding up the coupling bar and walking ahead of the engine, instead of using a foot-board attached to the pilot of the engine for him to stand on, the railway company will be responsible for the accident, notwithstanding the negligence of the brakeman, if it is shown that after the brakeman had stumbled and fallen there was yet time to stop the engine and avoid the accident. The negligence of the brakeman, while a contributory cause of the accident, was only a remote cause, the proximate cause being the failure to stop the engine in time. And it is a matter of indifference whether the failure to stop the engine was the result of the defectiveness of the engine or of the incompetency or inattention of the engineer.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>