Reynolds v. Braithwaite

Citations

• 131 Pa. 416
• 18 A. 1110
• 1890 Pa. LEXIS 1128

Syllabus

<p>1. When one has work done for him under a contract, exercising control of the mode of doing the work, and participating in and approving the acts of the contractor which constitute the cause of action, he is responsible for injuries resulting to another from the unlawful acts of the contractor.</p> <p>2. In an action for damages for cutting a pipe-line upon the land of defendant supplying water to the plaintiff’s premises, it was not error to instruct the jury that the plaintiff was entitled to the reasonable cost of obtaining a supply of water, and to the reasonable cost of the deprivation thereof, from the time it was cut off.</p> <p>3. Nor was it error to charge that the case was one in which the jury would not necessarily be limited to mere compensation, and that the court could not say it was not a case for punitive damages, but would consider that compensatory damages would be sufficient punishment for the wrong.</p>