Groves v. McNeil

Citations

• 226 Pa. 345
• 75 A. 600
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 770

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Vice principal — Fellow servant— Question for jury.</p> <p>1. In an action against an employer to recover damages for the death of an employee resulting from the breaking of a steel hanger of a scaffolding upon which the deceased was employed, the question as to whether the foreman in charge of the work was a vice principal or a fellow servant is for the jury, and a verdict and judgment for plaintiff will be sustained, where the evidence tends to show that the foreman had entire charge of the particular department of the work where the accident occurred; that he employed and discharged men; that he was directed by defendant to procure from a particular steel company materials necessary for the building of the scaffolding; that in doing so he selected without inspection or testing steel that was brittle, insufficient in thickness and unsuited for making hangers, and that the accident was caused by the brealdng of one of the hangers made from such steel.</p> <p>2. One who has been placed in entire charge of a distinct branch of his employer’s business not merely to superintend it but to control it, with no one else to exercise any discretion or oversight, is a vice principal.</p> <p>3. An employee whose duty it is to build a scaffold is providing a place to work, and in so doing he is charged with the duty of his employer, which could not be delegated by the employer so as to relieve him from liability for its improper performance. In selecting materials for the scaffold the employee was vested with a discretion as to what was necessary which the employer could not delegate except at its peril.</p> <p>Negligence — Damages—Death—Parent and child — Age of mother.</p> <p>4. The age of a mother suing for the death of a son, should be made to appear, but if no objection to the failure of proof on this subject is raised at the trial and the record shows that the mother was present and testified, and the jury had an opportunity of seeing