Eisenberg v. Fraim

Citations

• 215 Pa. 570
• 64 A. 793
• 1906 Pa. LEXIS 850

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Infant—Instruction by master — Nonsuit.</p> <p>The dangers of which it is the duty of the employer to give warning to an employee are not those that are subjects of common knowledge or apparent to ordinary observation.</p> <p>In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that the plaintiff, a boy fifteen years of age, employed at the defendants’ works, was at his own request transferred from the drill room to the press room to operate a machine used to punch metal plates. The plunger of this machine was held by a clutch which was opened by the operator’s placing his foot on the treadle. When the clutch was opened, the plunger dropped on the plate, and was then drawn back to its position where it was caught and held in place by the clutch. While the clutch was held open by pressure on the treadle, the plunger would continue to go up and down, and it was therefore necessary that the operator should remove his foot from the treadle after each drop of the punch. The plaintiff on the second day of his employment at the machine failed to remove his foot from the treadle and his fingers were injured by the plunger. The plaintiff had been instructed by a foreman how to operate the machine and he knew all about it. Held, that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence, and that a nonsuit was properly entered.</p>