Levy v. Rosenblatt

Citations

• 21 Pa. Super. 543
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 407

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Notice of danger — Acids.</p> <p>An employer is bound to exercise reasonable precaution against injury to his employees while they are in his service and obeying his orders. Not only must he provide suitable implements and means with which to carry on the business which he assigns them, but he must warn them of all dangers to which they will be exposed in the course of their employment, except those which the employee may be deemed to have foreseen as necessarily incident to the employment in which he engages, or which may be open and obvious to a person of his experience and understanding, and also such as the employer cannot be deemed to have foreseen. The employer will be presumed to be familiar with the dangers latent as well as patent, ordinarily accompanying the business which he is conducting.</p> <p>If the master gives the servant to understand that he does not consider the risk one which a prudent person should refuse to undertake, the servant has a right to rely upon his master’s judgment, unless his own is so clearly opposed thereto that in fact he does not rely upon his master’s opinion.</p> <p>In an action by an employee against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries, the case is for the jury where the evidence tends to show that the plaintiff, a common laborer without knowledge of English, was placed at work at etching glass eggs in a solution of hydrofluoric acid; that he received no instructions as to his work, except by some signs; that he had no knowledge of the dangerous effect of hydrofluoric acid on the hands, or on the nose, throat and lungs when its fumes arc inhaled; that these dangers were known to the defendant; that plaintiff used his naked hands m dipping the eggs in the solution, and that he received very serious injuries as a result of his work.</p>