Northern Pacific Railroad v. Charless

Citations

• 162 U.S. 359
• 16 S. Ct. 848
• 40 L. Ed. 999
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 2211

Syllabus

<p>The general principles of the law of master and servant, as set forth in the opinion in Northern Pacific Bailroad v. Peterson, ante, 346, are applicable to the facts in this case, and govern it.</p> <p>Tile plaintiff below was a day laborer, in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad. With the rest of his gang he started on a hand car under a foreman to go over a part of a section to inspect the road. While running rapidly round a curve they came in contact with a freight train, and he was seriously injured. The brake of the hand car was defective. The freight train gave no signals of its approach. He sued the company to recover damages for his injuries. Held,</p> <p>(1) That the railroad company was not liable for negligence of its-servants on the freight train to give signals of its approach, as such negligence, if it existed, was the negligence of a co-servant of the plaintiff;</p> <p>(2) That any supposed negligence of the foreman in running the hand car at too high a rate of speed, was negligence of a co-employé of the company, and not of their common employer;</p> <p>(3) That if it should be assumed that the injury might have been avoided if the brake had not been defective, the jury should have been properly instructed on that point.</p>