Simila v. Northwestern Improvement Co.

Citations

• 73 Wash. 285
• 131 P. 831
• 1913 Wash. LEXIS 1593

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Injury to Servant — Pleadings — Issues and Proof — General Denial. In an action by an employee in which the complaint alleges injuries caused by the negligent acts of servants of the defendant, without pointing out the particular servants who caused the injury, the defendant may, under a general denial, show that the persons who caused the injury were not in its employ but were servants of an independent contractor.</p> <p>Same — Independent Contractors — Evidence—Question for Jury. Whether persons engaged in getting out timbers for a mining company under a contract, whereby the company agreed to pay specified prices for the timbers at the mine, are servants of the owner or independent contractors, is a question for the jury, where the timber was cut on land belonging to the company, the contract did' no more than fix the prices to be paid and the only testimony that the company did not retain control of the work was that of the foreman, which was contradicted by the circumstance that, on complaint made, he promised to remedy the reckless manner in which the timbers were sent down a chute; the presumption being that persons employed to work on premises of another were servants, casting the burden of proof upon the defendant (Morris, J., dissenting).</p>