Martin v. Atlantic Transport Co.

Citations

• 237 Pa. 15
• 85 A. 29
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 884

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Explosives—Duty to warn.</p> <p>1. A stevedore injured while engaged in unloading casks of explosive matter in ignorance of the nature of the contents of such casks, can recover from his employer in an action' for damages, if the employer has either actual or constructive knowledge of such danger and has failed in its duty of warning its employees of it and of giving them proper instructions how to avoid it.</p> <p>2. In such case, where the stevedore company employing the plaintiff has received notice five days before the arrival of the ship that part of the cargo is “knall korke,” and where the casks are marked “Knall Korke, Vorsicht,” the German for “explosive corks, handle with care,” it is a question for the jury whether the company ought to have known of the dangerous nature of the explosives.</p> <p>3. What an employer ought reasonably to know to be dangerous to his employees it is his duty to know, and he is, therefore, presumed to know.</p>