Dempsey v. City of Scranton

Citations

• 264 Pa. 495
• 107 A. 877
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 684

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Damages—Decrease in earning power — Evidence.</p> <p>1. The income or profits an injured person derives from a business personally conducted with little or no capital and depending entirely or substantially upon his individual labor and skill, whether physical or mental, may be considered as affording the true measure of his earning capacity; but income or profits derived from a business requiring the investment of substantial capital or in which the injured person is engaged with others or where he employs the labor of others, cannot be accepted as a measure of earning capacity. In the latter case, the measure of loss is the value of plaintiff’s services in the business. In either case, inquiry into the character of the business is necessary, also the capital and assistance employed, and if the case falls within the second class depreciation in profits is properly admitted only where they can be shown to be the direct result of plaintiff’s absence, in which ease they are received, not as a distinct element of damage, but as evidence of the value of plaintiff’s services.</p> <p>2. The services of a man who has by his personal labor, skill and business ability, built up and managed a business for a period of years, is manifestly worth more than the mere cost of hiring another temporarily to fill his place. The thorough knowledge of the business thus acquired, together with the personal acquaintance with the customers, has a value in the commercial world readily recognized by any business man. This being so, there is no valid reason why one responsible for an injury should be heard to Say that damages based upon such consideration are merely conjectural.</p> <p>3. Where a person injured was engaged in the business of selling tea and coffee from a store where he employed three clerks, and also in personally driving a wagon in a particular territory from which he sold tea and coffee, and it appears that during the period of his disability he employed ano