Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Dixon

Citations

• 139 F. 737
• 71 C.C.A. 555
• 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 3915

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and Servant — Telegraph Operator Fellow Servant op Members op Train Crew.</p> <p>A local telegraph operator, whose duty it is to gather and give information to the train dispatcher relative to the arrival of a train at his station, to enable the dispatcher to formulate orders for the movement of other trains, is a fellow servant of the train operatives in giving such information, so that the master is not liable to them for injuries caused by an erroneous order of the dispatcher, induced by false information given by the local operator.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For cases in point, see vol. 34, Gent. Dig. Master and Servant, §§ 495, 498.</p> <p>Who are fellow servants, see notes to Northern Pac. R. Co. v. Smith, 8 C. C. A. 608; Flippin v. Kimball, 31 O. C. A. 286.]</p> <p>2. Same — Negligence—Res Ipsa Loquitur Inapplicable.</p> <p>The doctrine, “Res ipsa loquitur,” is inapplicable to negligence cases arising between master and servant, because the possible causes of accidents during service are many, for some of which the master, and for others of which the servant, is responsible, and the happening of an accident does not indicate to which class its cause belongs. The burden in such cases is always on him who alleges that the master was guilty of causal negligence to establish that fact. A finding that an accident hap.pened and that the servant injured was not at fault does not sustain this burden, because the accident may have been unavoidable, or may have resulted from the negligence of fellow servants or from other causes for which the master is not liable.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For cases in point, see vol. 34, Cent. Dig. Master and Servant, §§ 879-893.]</p> <p>3. Same — Meeting Orders — Rules op Company Construed.</p> <p>The rules of a railroad company, that meeting orders must not be sent for delivery to trains of superior right at the points of execution if this can be avoided, and that there should be, if possible, at least one telegraph office between