Opsahl v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.

Citations

• 78 Wash. 197
• 138 P. 681
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 998

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Common Carriers — Federal Employers’ Liability — Assumption of Risks. The defense of assumption of risks is not available, in an action by a railroad blacksmith for personal injuries sustained through the use of a defective grindstone which it was extremely hazardous to use, brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 35 Stat. 65, providing that an employee of a common carrier does not assume the risks in any case where the violation by the carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributed to the injury; in view of Rem. & Bal. Code, § 6587, prohibiting the use of any machine if any part of it is in a defective condition.</p> <p>Same — Assumption of Risks — Instructions. Instructions upon the question of the assumption of risks in the case of known defects in a machine held to be as favorable to defendant as should have been given.</p> <p>Damages — Personal Injuries — Excessive Verdict. A verdict for $2,565 for personal injuries, reduced by the trial court to $1,300, is not excessive, where the plaintiff, a blacksmith, sustained an injury to his hand resulting in the amputation of his little and third finger and injury to the middle finger.</p>