Shook v. Illinois Cent. R. Co.

Citations

• 115 F. 57
• 52 C.C.A. 651
• 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 4186

Syllabus

<p>1. Master and Servant — Release por Injuries — Fraud—Evidence—Sufficiency.</p> <p>Where an employé, a few months after being injured, executed a release, and afterwards became insane from wounds in his head, and defendant in an action for injuries, pleaded the release in bar, an averment that plaintiff in his mentally weak condition, by false and misleading statements by defendant’s surgeon, was kept in ignorance of his true condition, and by feigned promises of employment was induced to execute the release for an inadequate consideration, is not sustained, in the absence of positive testimony on such issue, where it appears that he was restored to his employment, and at the time the release was signed the injuries to plaintiff’s brain from the wounds in his head were not known to the defendant’s surgeon.</p> <p>8. Same — Questions for Jury — Directing Verdict.</p> <p>An employé received wounds in his head, which injured his brain, and subsequently produced insanity. After the accident his mental temperament was changed from that of a kind and considerate man to one of seemingly clouded intellect and irritable disposition. After the injuries he resumed his employment as a locomotive engineer without showing any incapacity for the service, and executed a release to the company for his injuries. The testimony as to his mental condition when he-executed the release and as to whether the injury to the brain was in contemplation of the parties was conflicting. The company’s physician, who examined him shortly after the accident, did not examine his head; stating the wounds there were merely scalp wounds. He continuously suffered from pains in his head until he was adjudged insane, about three years after the accident, and continued his employment for over two years, when he was discharged for disobedience of the company’s rules. 'Held, that the issues as to such employe’s sanity at the time he executed the release, and, if he was mentally sound, whether the injuries t