Warren v. Harlan & Hollingsworth Corp.

Citations

• 26 Del. 182
• 3 Boyce 182
• 84 A. 215
• 1912 Del. LEXIS 18

Syllabus

<p>1. Witnesses—Examination—Question and Answer.</p> <p>In an employee’s action for injuries from a steam hammer operated by a hammer boy, by whose negligence plaintiff charged that he was injured, a question asked plaintiff on direct examination as to what he knew about the hammer boy was too broad, and his answer that he did not know anything was struck out as immaterial.</p> <p>2. Trial—Province of Jury—Witnesses.</p> <p>The jury are' the sole judges of the credibility of witnesses and of the weight of their testimony.</p> <p>3. Master and Servant—Injuries to Servant—Actions—Variance.</p> <p>In an employee’s action for injuries, the plaintiff can recover only on proof by a preponderance of the evidence that his injury was caused from such negligence of the defendant as is described in the declaration.</p> <p>4. Master and Servant—Injuries to Servant—Actions—Presumption—Burden of Proof.</p> <p>In an employee’s action for injuries, there is no presumption of negligence on the part of the defendant or plaintiff from the mere fact of injury, but the burden of proving negligence is on him who charges it.</p> <p>5. Negligence—Definition.</p> <p>“Negligence” is a failure to observe, for the protection of another, that degree of care which the circumstances justly demand.</p> <p>6. Master and Servant—Injuries to Servant—Liability of Master.</p> <p>An employee’s right to recover for injuries is based upon the violation of some duty which the employer, or one for whose conduct the employer is responsible, owed to the employee.</p> <p>7. Master and Servant—Injuries to Servant—Fellow Servants.</p> <p>A blacksmith’s helper and a hammer boy, engaged in a common employment in a blacksmith shop, were fellow servants.</p> <p>8. Master and Servant—Injuries to Servant—Fellow Servants— Liability of Master.</p> <p>An employee cannot recover from his employer for injuries caused by the negligence of a fellow servant, in the selection and retention of whom the employer has used due and