Ginter v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 262 Pa. 474
• 105 A. 824
• 3 A.L.R. 505
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 708

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Negligence—Sparlcs—Refusal of train crew to put out fire — Scope of employment.</p> <p>1. Where a fire starts on land contiguous to a short coal branch of a railroad and extends to land beyond and destroys timber thereon, the owners of the timber cannot recover from the railroad company if there is nothing to show that the company negligently operated its trains, and the only negligence averred is that the crew of a train refused, when notified of the fire, to leave their train and help extinguish it.</p> <p>2. There is no duty upon the railroad company under such circumstances to render aid in putting out the fire; nor can it be held liable for the negligence of the crew in refusing to aid, inasmuch as the extinguishment of fires is not within the scope of the employment of a train crew.</p> <p>3. An employer is not liable for any act or omission of an employee that is not within the scope of his employment.</p>