Great Northern Railway Co. v. Wiles

Citations

• 240 U.S. 444
• 36 S. Ct. 406
• 60 L. Ed. 732
• 1916 U.S. LEXIS 1468

Syllabus

<p>Where there is nothing to extenuate the negligence of .the employé, or to confuse his. judgment, and his duty is as clear as its perforpance is easy, and he knows not only the imminent danger of the situation, but .also how it can be averted by complying with the'rules of the employer, there is no justification for a comparison of negligences’ on-the part of the employer and employé or the apportioning of their effect under the provision of the Employers’ Liability Act. To excuse' such neglect on the part of an employé of an interstate carrier would not only cast imiheasurable liability on the carriers but remove security from those carried.</p> <p>In such cases it is disputable whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies at all; and, in thid case, held that the submission to the jury ■ of whether negligence of the carriers existed, as a deduction from the , fact that a draw-bar pulled Out from causes not shown by the testimony, .and the proportion of the carrier’s negligence in causing the death of an .employé was, in view of the failure of the émployé to • perform his duty and comply with the rules of the employer under such circumstances, reversible error.</p> <p>125 Minnesota, 348, reversed.</p>