Norfolk & Western Railroad v. Ward

Citations

• 90 Va. 687
• 24 L.R.A. 717
• 19 S.E. 849
• 1894 Va. LEXIS 44

Syllabus

<p>1. Employees — Contributory negligence — Obedience to orders. — Where employee acts in obedience to orders he cannot be deemed guilty of contributory negligence, unless the danger be so glaring that no prudent man would encounter it, even when, like the employee, he was not entirely free to choose.</p> <p>2. Idem — Increased dangers — Liability of employers — Case at bar.- — Defendant had plaintiff employed in making excavations that demanded much caution. “ Ground-hog-holes ” were dug eighteen inches wide and thirteen feet deep instead of six or eight feet deep as usual, with sides unsupported. “Boss,” without examining as to the safety of the work, ordered plaintiff, who was unaware of the increased dangers thereof, to go in and dig the hole deeper. The sides caved in and disabled plaintiff for life: Held, defendant is liable.</p> <p>3. Idem — Knowledge of dangei — Burden of proof. — The burden rests upon employer to prove 'that employee was aware of the increased dangers growing out of employer’s negligence, and not out of the dangers incident to his ordinary employment.</p>