Magee v. North Pacific Coast Railroad

Citations

• 3 Cal. Unrep. 43
• 20 P. 709
• 1888 Cal. LEXIS 985

Syllabus

<p>Employer’s Liability—Assumption of Risk.—In an Action by a Brakeman against a railroad company for injuries received in a collision with an ox which was on the track through defendant’s negligence in not keeping up proper fences, it appeared that it was apparent to anyone who looked at them that the fences were insufficient to turn stock; and it was known that cattle had frequently broken through them while plaintiff was in defendant’s employment, when the train would be stopped, and the cattle driven off the track; and at least once plaintiff had assisted in driving them off. Plaintiff, a man of intelligence, had, as brakeman, ridden over the road along which the fences ran for some months. The court charged that if plaintiff knew the condition of the fences, or, as a prudent, reasonable man, should have known it, the verdict should be for defendant. Held, that a verdict for plaintiff could not be sustained, though he testified that he did not know the condition of the fences.</p>