Travis v. Kansas City, S. & G. Ry. Co.

Citations

• 119 La. 489
• 44 So. 274
• 1907 La. LEXIS 511

Syllabus

<p>Railroads — Liability o-e Lessor — Injury to Employé oe Lessee.</p> <p>In the absence of charter or statutory permission to lease its road, a railroad company is held liable for the breach on the part of its lessee of any of those duties imposed upon the lessor company by its charter or by law in favor of the public; that is to say, of carrying freight and passengers safely, and of operating with due care to the safety of the public generally. But in considering the liability of the lessor company a distinction is made between an employé and the public generally. The employé cannot recover for the breach of a duty arising under the contract of employment, as, for instance, the duty of providing a safe place to work in. The duty of the master to furnish the servant a safe place to work in is nothing more than one of the implied obligations of contract. It is not a duty arising from the general relation which the railroad occupies towards the public or towards the servant as one of the public. The duty to light the yard of the railroad company is not a duty owing to the public by the lessor company, but merely one arising out of the contract of employment. The question of what light shall be furnished to the employé to work by on the premises of the employer is one strictly between the employé as such and the employer as such.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For eases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 41, Railroads, § 813.]</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)»</p>