Shoemaker v. Lehigh Valley Railroad

Citations

• 236 Pa. 120
• 84 A. 763
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 722

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads — Master and servant — Oar inspection.</p> <p>1. In an action by a brakeman against his employer, a railroad company, to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from a defective brake, the case is for the jury and a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained, where the evidence shows that the defect in the brake was not patent and obvious; that the last inspection was nearly two months before the accident; that the only force applied at the inspection was about fifty pounds, while the necessary strain to which the brake was subjected in ordinary use was three times that weight; and that the plaintiff at the time of the accident only applied force enough to take up the slack in the brake chain, a force not nearly as great as ordinarily applied in setting the brake.</p> <p>2. A railroad company cannot be relieved from positive duty to properly inspect a brake by showing a servant employed for this purpose failed in the performance of his duties. The fellow servant rule has no application to such a case.</p>