Pearson v. Alaska Pacific Steamship Co.

Citations

• 51 Wash. 560
• 99 P. 753
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1231

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Employment of Incompetent Coservant— Evidence — Sufficiency. A master who employs a stevedore as winch driver in loading a vessel must use reasonable effort to ascertain his qualifications, and cannot escape liability by showing that there was nothing in his conduct during two hours’ employment indicating incompetency, or that he was a member of a union from which defendant was under contract to exclusively employ stevedores.</p> <p>Same — Evidence of Care in Selecting Servants — Admissibility. Upon an issue as to whether a master had made reasonable effort to ascertain the competency of a stevedore employed as a winch driver in loading a vessel, evidence is inadmissible that the master was under contract to employ exclusively the members of a union, and relied upon the union to furnish a competent winch driver, where it further appears that the winch driver was incompetent and that neither the master nor the union, which was his agent, made any inquiries as to the competency of the employee.</p> <p>Same — Evidence of Negligence — Experts. As opinion evidence is inadmissible where the jury can deduce reasonable inferences without special skill or knowledge, it is proper, in an action for injuries sustained by a hatch tender through the negligence of an incompetent winch tender in not properly acting upon a signal given him, to exclude expert opinions as to whether a winch driver might mistake the levers, whether one familiar with winches could determine in two hours as to the competency of the winch driver or the propriety of his operation, and whether it was proper for plaintiff to take hold of the load so as to allow himself to be caught.</p> <p>Same — Negligence—Evidence oe Negligent ’ Operation. In an action for personal injuries sustained through the negligent operation of a winch, it is proper to exclude evidence as to how another more complicated winch of different make is operated.</p> <p>Trial — Instructions—Requests. It is not error