Grout v. Tacoma Eastern Railroad

Citations

• 33 Wash. 524
• 74 P. 665
• 1903 Wash. LEXIS 548

Syllabus

<p>Master and- Servant — Railroads—Negligence — Death of Brakeman—Defective Coupling—Pleading—Complaint—Sufficiency. A complaint alleging the death of plaintiff’s decedent, a brakeman, through the negligent use of a defective pin and draw-bar in making an unusual and dangerous coupling between a steam shovel and a construction train, states a cause of action where it alleges that the pin was defective in being worn so smooth that it would not hold, that upon complaint, the conductor of the train looked at the coupling, declared it safe, and ordered the brakeman between the cars to set the brakes, which he did, relying upon the conductor’s assurance, whereupon he was killed owing to the giving way of the coupling through the defects aforesaid, since there is nothing in the complaint to show that the brakeman made the coupling, or had notice of the nature thereof, or of the defects in the pin.</p> <p>Pleadings—Liberal Construction. A complaint is to be liberally construed upon demurrer and all reasonable intendments made in its favor.</p> <p>Master and Servant—Assumption of Risks—Investigation by Master. The doctrine of assumption of risks imposes no duty upon the servant to make an investigation, where the defect was sufficiently apparent to be the subject of discussion and the master, after examination, pronounced it safe.</p> <p>Same—Railroads—Fellow Servants—Conductor of Train a Vice-Principal. The conductor of a construction train and his brakeman are not fellow servants, but the former is a vice-principal.</p> <p>Same—Assumption of Risk—Insufficient Number of Men. A brakeman assumes all risks from the negligence of a railroad company in failing to furnish a sufficient number of brakemen to operate the train.</p>