Seitzinger v. Burnham

Citations

• 223 Pa. 537
• 72 A. 898
• 1909 Pa. LEXIS 569

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Independent contractor — Unsafe appliance — Electric wiring.</p> <p>1. Ordinarily an employer who engages an independent contractor to furnish his plant with light is relieved from liability for injuries to an employee caused by defective wires or appliances, if due care has been exercised in the selection of a competent independent contractor.</p> <p>2. In an action by an employee against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries caused by the alleged negligent and defective installation of electric light wiring the plaintiff’s case must fail, if he merely shows the happening of the accident without any evidence whatever of the cause of the accident and does not establish either that the defendant or the independent contractor who had installed the wiring had been negligent, or that incompetent electricians had been employed to do the work, or to examine, approve and inspect the wires and plant.</p> <p>Negligence — Res ipsa loquitur.</p> <p>3. The maxim res ipsa loquitur is the expression of an exception to the general rule applicable to cases of negligence, which is that the negligence charged will not be presumed but must be affirmatively proven.</p>