Union Pacific Railway Co. v. O'Brien

Citations

• 161 U.S. 451
• 16 S. Ct. 618
• 40 L. Ed. 766
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 2177

Syllabus

<p>A railroad company is bound to provide suitable and safe materials and structures in the construction of its road and appurtenances, and if from a defective construction thereof an injury happen to one of its servants the company is liable for the injury sustained.</p> <p>The servant, on his part, undertakes tifie risks of the employment as far as they spring from defects incident to the service, but he does not take the risks of the negligence of the master itself.</p> <p>The master is not to be held as guaranteeing or warranting absolute safety under all circumstances, but is bound to exercise the care which the exigency reasonably demands in furnishing proper roadbed, track, and other structures, including sufficient culverts for the escape of water collected and accumulated by embankments and excavations.</p> <p>There are cases in which, if the employé knows of the risk and the danger . attendant upon it, he may be held to have taken the hazard by accepting or continuing in the employment; but this case, as left to the jury under the particular facts, is not one of them.</p>